To Dance Or Not To Dance
by FalconWings14
Summary: Slash eventually RyanChad. In an attempt to find his 'singing thing', Chad finds an unlikely ally in the largerthanlife Ryan Evans...
1. I wanna find my singing thing

**(gasps) What's this? A story outside of the Harry Potter fandom? _Moi?_ Yes, it's true. Try not to collapse with shock or anything; it's still slash. I just saw High School Musical and was _totally_ bitten, so there you go. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical: it belongs to the people of Disney. I do however think that they missed a great opportunity in not giving Ryan and Sharpay a lot more screen time. But my opinion is irrelevant. (sobs)**

**Warning: Guy-on-guy action. The squeamish and the homophobic should run away screaming now. Oh, and I split up Chad and Taylor. Please don't hurt me!**

**Tiny little note: I know I should be working on A Snake Among The Lions chappie 8, but this hijacked the system. I was powerless to resist. (shrugs) Oh, and the timeline for this is all screwed up. I don't get the American school day, so you're going to have to suspend reality and pretend their screwy schedules make perfect sense. Are we all on board? Lovely. On with the show…

* * *

**

"Heads up!"

Chad leapt into the air and caught the basketball, watched as Troy ran past towards the hoop, and passed it back to him almost as soon as his foot touched ground. Troy took a shot, scored, and threw the horns in celebration, crowing loudly and grinning like a madman. Chad only allowed himself a small chuckle. Troy noticed.

"Hey man, what's up with you?" He scooped the ball up and tucked it under his arm.

"Nothing really." Chad took the ball and dribbled a few feet, then stopped, seemingly lost. "It's just…I've always been about the basketball, right?"

"Right."

"And that was cool. There wasn't really any reason to want to do anything else, you know?"

"With you so far."

"And then you did the singing thing, and suddenly everybody was doing other stuff and loving every second."

"So?"

"So…I never did other stuff."

Troy shrugged. "Well, it's not like you _have_ to. If you're happy with basketball then there's not really any point."

"But that's the thing! I'm wondering if basketball is all I am. What if you never met Gabriella? Would you be as happy as you are now if you hadn't found singing?"

"I…guess not…never really thought about it."

"See!" Chad cried, not really listening. "I want to find my singing thing!"

"But what if your singing thing is basketball?"

This time Chad shrugged. "I'd like a chance to find out."

Troy took a long hard look at his best friend. He seemed serious enough.

"Okay." He said at last, wondering why he was giving Chad permission to go ahead with his soul-searching. "We'll find your singing thing."

"Great!" Chad laughed and pulled Troy into a big bear hug. "So where do we start?"

"Well…what do you like to do? Other than basketball."

"I don't know. I guess I like watching MTV."

"Great, so we'll start with singing!"

Chad blanched. "No man, I'm no singer. No way."

"So try dancing then."

A pause. A smile.

"Yeah! I'm always dancing in my room. That's it! I'll try dancing! Troy, can you help me?"

"Sorry man, I'm no dancer. But I know a guy who is."

"Who?" The instant the question left his mouth Chad already knew the answer. "No. No, you are not gonna set me up with one of the Evans twins!"

"Aw come on, Danforth! Ryan's probably the best dancer in the school and you know it! Besides, the Evans twins aren't that bad. Just a little…overbearing."

A look of purest murder crossed Chad's face. "He'll try and co-ordinate my clothes, Troy. Worse, he'll try and give me an _outfit_."

Troy smirked. "But he'll teach you to _dance_. It won't be that bad at all. Remember, Ryan is the human one. It's Sharpay you have to watch out for."

"Fine!" Chad threw his hands up in submission. "I'll do it." He jabbed a warning finger in Troy's face. "But if he tries to get me to wear a hat, I am holding you personally responsible."

Troy just cracked up at the thought of Ryan trying to wrestle Chad's massive 'fro into one of his stylish caps.

* * *

Ryan Evans looked at the two jocks before him, fresh from the court and still wearing their jerseys. He wasn't entirely sure he had heard them correctly.

"You want me to teach you to dance?"

Chad nodded.

"Really?"

"Really, really."  
Ryan still held a look of confusion. They must have been unable to find a dance teacher elsewhere; Ryan was _never_ the first choice for anybody. Drama was all he was good at, and even then people always approached Sharpay before him. She must have shot them down in flames, although she never used to be able to refuse Troy anything. Strange; Zeke's cookies must have flushed that crush right out of her system.

"You really want me to teach you to dance?"

"YES!" Chad and Troy cried.

"But, I'm just teaching Chad, right? Not Troy."

"That's the plan." Troy sighed. Ryan shrugged and cast an appraising eye over Chad. He had eager eyes, a bright winning smile, a wild brown afro – _so_ 70's – an unimaginative wardrobe, if memory recalls, to match an unimaginative boy, and long gangly limbs meant for the basketball court, not the dance floor. Still, he had a good awareness of his movements; one advantage of that wretched sport, and he could keep a rhythm. He had the potential to make an excellent dancer…which was exactly why Ryan couldn't teach him a thing. Troy had already outshone him as a singer (although his acting was worse than Paris Hilton's, thank God). There was no way he could afford to be danced out of the spotlight too. If there was one thing his dear sister Sharpay had taught him, it was be the best you can be, and eliminate anyone better.

"Sorry boys, no can do. I'm all danced out 'till the Winter Production."

And with that he turned on his heel and sauntered out of the auditorium, leaving two very deflated jocks in his wake.

"What was that?" Chad demanded after recovering from the shock. He had _not_ just been blown off by a drama geek!

Troy shook his head. "That was Ryan dealing with the competition."

"Yeah well who needs him? I'll dance on my own!" Chad yelled at the door.

"Hey man, take it as a compliment. He obviously thought you were good enough to rival him."

"I'll do more than rival him, I'll kick his butt! I'll dance all over his sorry ass!"

Troy placed a soothing hand on Chad's shoulder only to have him pull away and storm out of the opposite door to Ryan, swiftly leaving his best friend very alone in front of the stage. Without knowing why, Troy shivered, and then walked out, suddenly desperate to see Gabriella.

* * *

Gabriella, meanwhile, was talking to Taylor over a steaming flask of chemicals. They seemed completely enraptured by the conversation.

"Gabby, you would not believe how awful it truly was."

"Was it that bad?"

"I should think his pick-up line was a testament to just how bad it was. '_It must be your lucky day'_? What was I _thinking_ saying yes to such an arrogant proposal? It just had 'Neanderthal' written all over it!"

Gabriella watched the contents of the flask change colour, noted it down, and wrinkled her nose in concentration. "Are you sure you gave him a fair chance? Maybe he was nervous?"

"Nervous?" Taylor snorted. "He was anything but! All throughout the date he was acting as if I should have been honoured that he asked me out, like he was God's damn gift! I felt like a trophy, not a date. He just asked me out because he thought he should, not because he liked me."

"Aw, come on, he liked you."

"As a comrade. A colleague. Maybe even a friend. But not as a girlfriend. We both just got caught up in the rush of winning the Scholastic and the Championship and getting you and Troy into the show all in the same day. We have since learned that we are not compatible date-wise."

"I'm sorry Taylor."

"I'm not! Who wants to date a jock?"

Gabriella gave a small deliberate cough.

"Well, apart from you." Taylor shrugged. "Besides, Troy doesn't count. He's beyond a jock; he is the singing jock. And you're the singing math freak. You fit. Chad and I don't."

"I guess." Gabriella sighed. "I'm still sorry you didn't work out."

Taylor smiled at her friend. She was so romantic; she wanted everybody to be in love now that she was. Well, Taylor didn't have time for guys right now. She had to focus all her energy on her studies. Blockheads like Chad Danforth were not going to distract her.

Lunch came around all too swiftly for Taylor. She fully expected Chad to come ambling up behind Troy as he made his way over to where Gabriella (and consequently, Taylor) was sitting. Yet there was no sign of him at all.

"Hey you!" was Troy's greeting as he sat down. Gabriella grinned and fed him a French fry. There was still no Chad, no matter where Taylor looked she couldn't see him, and he wasn't exactly hard to miss. She was puzzled to say the least.

"Where's Chad?"

Troy tore himself away from Gabriella's eyes. "Hm? Oh, Chad! Yeah, he's spending lunch dancing."

"What?"

"Dancing." He repeated. "He wants to find his 'singing thing', so he's working out this dance routine."

"Aw, that's sweet!" said Gabriella. "See, maybe there's something more to Chad than meets the eye." She gave Taylor a meaningful look.

"Maybe…" Taylor was even more puzzled. "So he's working out a dance routine because he wants to find his 'singing thing'?"

"Well, technically he's working out a dance routine to show Ryan Evans that he can dance. He kind of shot him down earlier when he asked him to teach him."

Taylor sighed. She knew it wasn't what it seemed. "So what was originally a venture to find himself has now become a struggle of ego?" Troy shrugged in way of answer. Taylor huffed and threw her eyes skyward in disgust. Why did guys have to make everything about ego?

* * *

Meanwhile, Ryan and Sharpay had taken up residence at their usual table with the Drama Club, which still didn't include Troy and Gabriella. Sharpay was still sore about that, but she was torn between wanting them to join out of principle because they stole the show and not wanting them to join out of spite because they stole the show. Presently she was vocalising this dilemma, not letting anybody else get a word in edgeways, though this was nothing unusual. Ryan sighed into his ice tea. He had hoped that after Troy and Gabriella smashed the clique boundaries, Sharpay would loosen her vice-like grip on the whole school and let _him_ voice an opinion or two, but alas! Within a few weeks after the final curtain call on _Twinkle Toes_ everybody had drifted back to their original groups, doing their original stuff, with only the few exceptions such as Zeke and his cute little baking. When Ryan had first found out about that he had a strong image of the basketball player in a frilly apron pulling a fresh batch of cookies out of the oven, and now he cracked up every time he saw him. Just thinking about it brought a smirk to his face, which Sharpay swiftly picked up on.

"What are you smiling about?" she demanded.

"Nothing! Whether or not Troy and Gabriella should join the Drama Club is a very serious issue!"

Seemingly satisfied, Sharpay nodded and continued whittling away with her anti-Troy and Gabriella sermon. Ryan had to chug down his ice tea to stop himself from giggling like a girl.

Five minutes later he felt nature calling. He had to stop drinking ice tea at lunch; it went right through him!

"Excuse me, gotta use the little boys' room." He explained before standing up and hot-footing it to the boys' bathroom. He reached the door and put his weight against it, expecting it to swing open, but it didn't. It was locked.

"Damn!" He tried again, this time putting his whole weight against the door and _pushed_, but it still wouldn't budge. He briefly considered trying to break the door down, but he had the strength of a gnat and the pain tolerance of a two-year-old. Thoughts of an agonising broken shoulder wrestled with the urgent pressing on his bladder, until his attentions were drawn to something else…he could hear music coming from the bathroom!

"Now I've really got to get inside!" Ryan muttered to himself as curiosity hooked its claws into the corners of his brain and gave it a good yank. He tapped his foot impatiently as he tried to think of a way to get the door open, but discreetly, so he wouldn't disturb whoever was in there.

_What would Sharpay do?_ He asked himself. Suddenly he was struck by a brainwave! Excitedly, he scrabbled around in his pockets, searching for his stash of just-in-case items. His eyes lit up and he yanked out a single hairpin, kept for whenever Sharpay lost one of hers and had a 'major hair emergency'. He shoved it in the keyhole and rooted around, waiting for it to go '_click!'_ like in the movies. It didn't happen. He tried again at a different angle, and again, and again, until eventually he got the feel for it and tripped just the right part.

_Yay for me! I'm a super-sleuth!_ He cried in his head, mindful of disturbing the guy with the music. It was hip-hop; fast and thumping – the kind that makes you want to break-dance even though you know you can't. Quietly, Ryan nudged the door open and peered round so that he could see the guy with the music, but the guy with the music couldn't see him. He gasped at the first glimpse of the all-too familiar hair, bobbing up and down like a frizzy marshmallow. His jaw dropped as he watched the body move in fluid, desperate motions, keeping to the beat as though the music was in his head, not coming out of the stereo. He had never seen anybody dance so…he couldn't even describe it. It was just so _raw_, and yet so much more than that…he couldn't stop watching! He watched as Chad Danforth repeated the same moves over and over, spinning and snapping, getting more desperate with each turn. Then suddenly, the fury disappeared and Ryan could see that Chad was lost, completely lost in what he was doing. Fury left behind passion, desperation left behind freedom. This was his rapture, his bliss. And Ryan had tried to deny him this because he felt threatened.

Suddenly Chad stopped dancing, aware of Ryan peeking from the behind the door. "What the hell are you doing here?" he cried, switching off the music. "I thought I locked the door!"

Ryan stared at Chad with his mouth hanging open like a goldfish. He took a real good look at the jock before him, almost seeing him for the first time. He was panting from the dancing and a few beads of sweat were glistening on his brown skin. He was working hard in there…really hard. He was serious about this. Ryan looked up and met Chad's brown eyes with his own. He could see the determination and the passion burning behind them. He knew what he had to do.

"I changed my mind. I want to help you."

"Come again?" Chad spluttered. "Weren't you 'all danced out'?"

Ryan ignored the quote. "Look, you're really good…"  
"You bet I am! I don't need you to teach me. Heck, I don't even want you to! So just turn your little Gucci-covered tail around and get lost!"

Ryan sighed. "It's Armani, but that's besides the point." He put on his best I'm-talking-to-you-as-an-equal-here face (which, to be honest, wasn't used all that often) and chose his next words very carefully. "You ARE really good. You have talent coming out of your pores! But you're not gonna get anywhere if all the practice you have is in the bathroom with a boom box and a vague idea of a routine."

Chad cocked an eyebrow. "So you're going to help me out of the kindness of your heart?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah."

"Even if I turn out to be better than you?"

"Sure. Troy took singing. You might as well take dancing too. I mean I can still act circles round you guys so…it's cool I guess." He gave a nonchalant shrug which completely knocked Chad for six. The tone of his voice was so… blunt and…not like Ryan. Suddenly Chad understood why Ryan had blown him off in the auditorium; drama meant everything to him. He didn't have anything to fall back on if it disappeared because, say, a few guys stole all his spotlight. So why would he want to help him now? Had he just given up altogether?

"What changed your mind?" Chad asked.

"The way you moved." Ryan answered simply. "You were free. I could relate. That's how I feel when I'm on stage performing. I couldn't deny you your wings."

Chad paused to think. He didn't want to admit it, but he could do with Ryan's help. He just wasn't sure he could trust him; this could all be some elaborate plot to make sure his chances of dancing were ruined. After a deep breath he made up his mind, drew himself up to his full height and looked directly into Ryan's eyes, brown against blue, and initiated a primal declaration of war.

"Okay drama geek, teach me." He threw down the gauntlet and watched as Ryan picked it up (metaphorically speaking, of course).

"I'll show you everything I know." Ryan smiled. "But not right now."

"Why not?"

"Because I have to pee. Now get outta my way before I wet my very expensive ARMANI pants!" Ryan emphasised the word Armani by theatrically widening his eyes, causing Chad to burst out laughing as he let the blonde past. What was that, a sense of humour? Maybe Ryan wasn't as bad as he first thought…

END PART 1...


	2. But that would be madness!

**Gah! This took longer than I hoped it would, but it's here in time for Christmas! Hooray! I had such fun with this chapter. I hope you will too. It's a little shorter, but not much. You don't mind, do you? Anyway, Happy Holidays, my cheerful little readers!**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, clearly. Boy would I be rich if it were…Disney must have tripled their income on this bloody film!**

**Warning: Slashy undertones…or overtones…either way, homophobes will not like it. (gasps) Two guys dancing together! The unnatural horror! Oh! And I used the f-word, because I'm naughty.**

**Notes: Uh…I know nothing about Latin ballroom dancing, not even enough to know if it truly exists. All references are based purely on guess work and I apologise if they are not factually correct. Also, I don't know how to spell phys ed. I am English. We call it P.E.**

**Dedication: This chapter goes to all you people out there who reviewed the first chapter and filled my spirit with such joy. Most especially Kay Springs, who left me the best review I have ever received and was almost the sole force behind me finishing this chapter so quickly. If it were not for you, this probably would have rotted until after New Year. Thank you so much. Your review truly touched and inspired me.

* * *

**

It was the next day before Ryan and Chad were able to arrange their first session. They had decided to keep the whole thing under wraps for the time being; Chad was worried about what the team would think (dancing isn't exactly as manly as singing, and Troy had a very cute Gabriella for incentive - he only had Ryan). Ryan was terrified of what Sharpay would do when she found out he was helping another jock. He was getting a headache just imagining the shrieking. So it wasn't until the end of the day when Chad had finished basketball practice that they were able to meet up. He had to admit he was excited. He had barely been able to concentrate in practice, let alone in class. He found himself thinking this must have been what it was like for Troy, and he wanted to share these thoughts with his best friend, but there was some part of him that wanted to keep his dance lessons with Ryan all to himself. He had never had a secret before. It was kinda cool.

Chad went to the auditorium straight from practice, too nervous to change into his regular clothes. He opened the door to see Ryan and Sharpay on the stage, arguing. Not wanting Sharpay to see him, he crept inside and crouched behind a seat, peering over to watch the twins fight, except it wasn't so much a fight as a one-sided tirade on Sharpay's part.

"How many times do I have to tell you to drop those stupid jazz squares?" she yelled. "They are NOT a crowd favourite! They are clumsy and retarded and I do not like them! If I see you do another one then I swear I'll break both your kneecaps! Understood?"

"Yes Sharpay." Ryan looked completely crushed. Chad couldn't help feeling sorry for the guy.

Sharpay smiled, pleased at having gotten her own way. "Good. Now let's get out of here."

"Actually, I'm staying here a little while. Mr. Killmartin says I'm not pulling my weight in phys ed, so I have to stay and practice climbing the rope."

"What?"

"I'll be home for dinner, don't worry. You can take the car." Ryan's face was the picture of innocence. Sharpay was either unable see past it or just didn't want to.

"Fine." She snapped, before turning on her heel and marching out of the room. Chad crouched down as far as he could, even flattening his hair as she walked past. She didn't see him, and he was free to gingerly stand up and head over to Ryan on the stage.

"Hey." He smiled.

"Hey." Ryan replied. The chirpy, innocent face was gone and all that was left was weary. Chad decided to approach the subject carefully:

"Dude, what was up with your sister?"

Ryan sighed. "She doesn't want me to do any jazz squares in our dance routines. I really like them, but she's a vicious dictator so I guess I've 'jazzed my last square'." He emphasised the last few words with a mournful waggling of his fingers.

Chad looked puzzled. "What's a jazz square?"

"You move your feet in a box and do jazz hands at the same time. It's great! Would you like me to show you?" Ryan's eyes had suddenly lit up like a kid in a toy shop. Chad shrugged. It wasn't the kind of thing he thought he would be doing, but if it cheered up Ryan then what the hell.

"Sure."

Ryan grinned and excitedly pulled Chad up on the stage, dragging him by the hand to the right spot and making sure he was standing with his legs in the right position.

"Okay, imagine there's a square on the floor in front of you. Now step forward with your left foot into the top left corner."

Chad stepped.

"Now put your right foot in the top right corner."

Chad stepped again.

"Now move your left foot back into the bottom left corner."

Step.

"And your right foot back into the bottom right."

Step.

"Now do it again."

Step…step…step…step.

"Faster."

Step, step, step, step.

"Keep going."

Step, step, step, step. Step, step, step, step. Step, step, step, step.

"Now do jazz hands at the same time."

Chad did so, getting more and more into it the longer he went. Finally, when he saw Ryan beaming at him like a father watching his son ride a bike, he realised: _Good God, I'm doing a fucking jazz square!_

"Fun, right?" said Ryan.

To his horror, Chad found himself replying "Yeah, it is." And it was. And he was very creeped out by the whole revelation. However, it was hard to feel bad about it when Ryan was practically exploding with happiness. It was like the blonde's unadulterated elation was somehow seeping through the air and infecting Chad. How else could he possibly be enjoying this?

After about a minute, Ryan cleared his throat and became all serious. "I guess you want me to teach you something that's not so 'show tune', right?"

Chad stopped and thought. "Yeah." He replied at last. "But right now I'm happy with the jazz squares. Care to join me?" Ryan rewarded Chad's gesture with a massive grin, and the two boys immediately fell into step, laughing as they did the most outrageous, flamboyant jazz squares in the history of jazz squares, ever. And so passed Ryan and Chad's first dancing session together.

* * *

"So, how's the dancing coming along?" Troy leaned over during homeroom, risking the wrath of Ms Darbus who was thankfully preoccupied with some drama thing Sharpay and Ryan were hassling her about. Chad jerked his head up and grinned.

"Fine! Great! Better than great! Well, maybe not better than great. I mean, it's not like I'm being taught by anybody or anything. Why would you say that? I'm just practicing in the bathroom…on my own. Nobody's teaching me!"

"Um…" Troy coughed. "I didn't say they were…"

Chad gaped at him, and then broke out into a nervous smile. "Right. Of course you didn't."

"MR DANFORTH!" Ms Darbus exploded from the front of the classroom, zoning in on her target. "Did I hear you volunteering for the drama department's latest activity?"

Chad froze. He knew the answer was no, but his lips couldn't force the words out. Ms Darbus took this as a cue to continue.

"Dance, Mr Danforth. Latin ballroom dancing. The drama club is organising a contest. Are you man enough to enter? Or is the concept of passion and grace alien to you unless associated with a piece of orange rubber?"

"I really don't think…" Chad attempted to splutter a defence, but Sharpay interrupted him with her claws bared,

"Oh we all know you don't think." She paused to lap up the spattering of laughter and then turned to address Ms Darbus. "I wouldn't waste my breath on him. We all know he couldn't dance if his feet were on fire."

"Hey, he can dance!" Troy shot back, leaping to Chad's defence. "I'll bet if he entered then he'd put you and Ryan to shame!"

Chad glared at his best friend. Whose side was he on? Sure, it was nice that he was standing up for him, but if he carried on like this then Ms Darbus would probably end up putting Chad in the competition for real!

Sharpay's eyes narrowed, set to 'kill'. "You really think Chad Danforth can beat me and Ryan in a _Latin_ dancing competition that _we_ organised and that _we_ have been practicing for since we could _walk_?"

Chad looked at Troy, begging him with his eyes to say no, but it was too late. Loyalty and pride were forcing his hand.

"Yeah." He said. "I think he could."

"Well then!" Ms Darbus cried triumphantly. "We shall see who prevails. The drama club…or the basketball posse?" She seemed very happy with what had just happened. Chad could tell where her money was placed.

Troy glanced back at Chad and gave an apologetic shrug. Chad waved him off. He was too horrified to be angry. He peeked over at where Ryan was sitting, pretending to look animated while Sharpay went over various killer moves they could use to crush him in the contest. The blonde looked perplexed. He looked up and met Chad's eyes, smiling warmly. Chad had expected to see a challenge hidden in those pools of blue, but instead he saw reassurance. If he didn't know any better, he would say that Ryan was planning on helping him with this. But…that would be madness! If Ryan did this it would really piss Sharpay off, beyond all reasonable concept of pissed off. Heck, they'd never even find his body!

Suddenly, the bell ripped through the PA, triggering an avalanche of movement as people scurried off to class. Chad was forced to put his worries aside as the school day demanded his attention. He would have to wait until he could meet up with Ryan again after school, but for what he didn't know…

* * *

"You're going to help me?"

Chad gawked at Ryan, hopeful that doing so would allow him to hear what Ryan had really said.

"Sure. I said I'd teach you to dance. As a teacher it would be reckless of me not to teach you the steps you'll need for the competition you entered."

"Ah, technically I didn't enter. People entered for me."

"Well, whether you entered or not, you're in the contest."

"But Latin ballroom dancing? I can't…it's ballroom dancing!"

Ryan smiled. "Latin ballroom dancing is not like ballroom dancing in any sense you're familiar with."

"It's not?" Chad frowned, images of waltzing with his Grammy skipping through his head.

"No. It's fast, it's fun, and above all, it's sexy!" Ryan leapt up onto the stage and snapped a CD into the stereo. A cheerful salsa beat started pounding out of the speakers and he began moving along to the rhythm. "Ever heard of the tango?" he asked Chad, still dancing away.

Chad shrugged. "Sure."

"Mambo?"

"I guess."

"The cha-cha-cha?"

"Yeah…"

Ryan stopped mid-spin and grinned. "Well these are just a few of the dances you'll be learning. We'll go over the basic steps of each dance, and then spice them up a bit and work them into a routine, okay?"

"Sounds good to me."

Ryan stepped over and pulled Chad up onto the stage. "You'll need to find a partner. Preferably a girl."

Chad glared. "Thanks. I'll remember that."

"Okay, we'll start with the cha-cha-cha." Ryan pulled Chad towards him and held his arms aloft. "Put your hand on my waist."  
"Whoah! What?" Chad responded by tearing himself away from the blonde and screeching.

"Oh come on, you're not even the girl!" Ryan snorted.

"That's not the point! Nowhere in the job description did it mention this!"

"What?"

"This!" Chad motioned towards the space between him and Ryan in an attempt to indicate the amount that should always be in existence. Ryan rolled his eyes.

"This is a dance lesson, not a date. Get over the minimal amount of bodily contact there will be between us, you big fat baby!"

"But…"

"No buts! I am teaching you to dance. This is a perfectly innocent scenario, so stop acting like I'm putting the moves on you and put your hand on my waist!"

Reluctantly, Chad did as he was told and let Ryan guide him through the steps. He picked them up pretty easily, and soon he found himself getting into the swing of things, even spinning Ryan when the feeling took him.

"You're really good at this." Ryan grinned.

"Not so bad yourself."

"Fancy trying a dip?"

"What, you mean one of these?" Chad proceeded to shift Ryan's weight and luridly dip him, catching the blonde off guard and causing him to shriek in surprise. Chad couldn't help but smile at the startled expression on Ryan's face. He almost looked edible…

"Okay! I think that's enough dipping for today!" Chad cried, practically dropping Ryan in a hurried attempt to not be touching him. He definitely needed a girl partner. Having Ryan take the girl part was doing weird things to his head, it must be. "Uh, I just remembered…my mom needs me at home right now for…stuff. I gotta go."

Ryan frowned. "Okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Sure!" And then Chad was gone, leaving Ryan very puzzled and bruised.

END PART 2...


	3. Too close

**Hi. Remember me? Wow, I'm impressed. The last update was…Christmas? Before Christmas? I'm amazed anyone still cares after I took over four and a half months to update. Flog me, I deserve it. Please! It's not even that long…(wails at own inadequacy) **

**Thank you to all those who reviewed the last chapter. I send you all big hugs and my eternal respect and love.**

**Disclaimer:**** It's all Disney's. Apart from the random cheerleader. She's mine. Oh! She has a name – Sadie. Yeah, I own Sadie. Big whoop. (I want Chad and Ryan for my own kinky purposes!)**

**Warning:**** Slashy. No like, no read. That simple. Also, bad language. Probably. I'm a fan of the bad language, so logic suggests there's some in there…**

**Notes:**** I have been waiting so long to get the 'Hey there Fred Estaire' thing in. I can quite happily claim that as my own. Yup. (nods)**

**Dedication:**** This is dedicated to every person who still reads this chapter after such a gap between this and the previous one.**

**Alrighty, on with the show…**

* * *

"Aw, come on! Please? _Please?_ I'll beg, I really will!" 

"I told you I can't!" The blonde cheerleader snapped at Chad, rolling her eyes at what had to be the millionth time he had asked her to be his dance partner that day. "I don't have time! I have practice, okay? Ask someone else!"

"I have! I've asked everybody! You're my last hope! Come on Sandy…"

"Sadie."

"I said that. Look, no one else will do it. I'm desperate! I wouldn't be asking otherwise."

Sadie snorted. "Well thanks a lot, Danforth."

"No, I didn't mean…"

"Forget it! You can dance with Ryan Evans for all I care!"

Sadie slammed her locker shut, nearly taking Chad's fingers off, and stormed down the hallway in a whirlwind of fury. Chad was left to stand there, wincing both at the withering glare she had given him before she left and at the irony of her parting statement.

"That's it." He sighed. "I'm stuck with Ryan." He had spent all day asking every girl he came across to be his dance partner and not a single one had said yes. They were all too busy, or too shy, or their boyfriends would get too jealous. He had even asked Taylor, but she had declined, saying that dance 'was way too physical' for her. Funny, Chad was under the impression girls would have been dying for the chance to dance with him…

"Hey there Fred Estaire!" Troy suddenly came from nowhere to clap Chad on the shoulder and give him a near heart attack. "How's the partner coming along?"

Chad groaned. "All the girls have officially gone temporarily insane. I'm high and dry."

"Hmm…the Danforth charm not working, huh?"

"I don't know what to do!"

"Well," Troy sighed and slid an arm around his buddy's shoulders, leading him down the hallway. "It's a pair competition. Male and female. You're gonna have to figure _something_ out."

Chad cried in outrage. "It's your fault I'm in this mess! Why don't _you_ figure something out?"

Troy shrugged. "Did you ask Gabriella?"

"Yes! I asked every girl in school, didn't you hear?"

"Are you sure?"

"Are you deaf? I said I asked _every_ girl…wait…no I don't think I did ask her…"

Troy smirked. "I'll talk to her. I'm sure I can persuade her to be your partner."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You're desperate. And it _is_ my fault."

"Damn straight!"

"Okay!" Troy held up his hands in surrender. He turned around and backed down the hall, talking to Chad as he went. "I'll give you an update at lunch."

"Uh…" Chad stopped. "I won't see you at lunch. I'm spending it working on my routine."

Troy quirked an eyebrow. "How can you work on a routine when you don't know a thing about Latin ballroom dancing?"

"Well…I got a video."

"A video?"

"Yeah. Kind of like a 'dancing-by-numbers' thing. I'm learning basic steps and…throwing them together?"

Troy frowned. "Sounds like something you'd need help with."

"Yeah, well that's what I need a partner for."

"Okay… I guess I'll see you free period." Troy shrugged and waved goodbye as he ducked into his class. Chad sighed. Sometimes Troy could be way too easy to lie to.

HSM

At lunch, Chad was able to steal twenty minutes with Ryan in an empty classroom. The blonde would have liked it to have been more, but he had prior engagements with Sharpay and, you know…food. So the pair scurried about, moving the desks as quickly and as quietly as they could. The Chess Club was meeting just down the hall and they didn't want to attract any attention to the fact that they were meeting in an empty classroom. Apart from it giving off entirely the wrong impression, there was too great a risk of the secrecy element of their arrangement going out the window. Not to mention the fact that the boys liked the quiet life that came with the whole secrecy thing.

"I'm sorry we don't have that much time." Ryan sighed once they had cleared an ample space. "We could have gone over some more stuff yesterday if you hadn't run out on me."

Chad squirmed. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"What was the deal with that anyway?"

"Nothing." Chad could feel heat rising to his cheeks as memories of Ryan's wide, startled eyes resurfaced. Yeah, what was the deal exactly? "I guess…it was just too weird."

"Weird?"

"Yeah, weird. Whatever. I'm over it now. Let's go, we haven't got all year!" He grabbed Ryan's hands and pulled them into position, then dragged him about the floor as he went through the steps. Ryan noticed that he was keeping a considerable distance between them, and no attempt was made to dip him again. Something had definitely freaked the guy out yesterday, that was for sure.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine! Quit putting me off."

Ryan frowned. "It's just that until you have a girl partner, you're stuck practicing with me."

"I know. What's your point?"

"Well, remember when I said Latin ballroom dancing was sexy?"

Chad snorted. "Finding it hard to contain yourself?"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Get over yourself Danforth! It's not me I'm worried about."

Chad froze. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!" The blonde backtracked hastily. "It's just that it's all up close and personal and I don't think you feel very comfortable dancing with another guy. I mean, going by your reaction yesterday…"

"I already apologised for that."

"I know, but it freaked you out all the same. Which is fine, really! But I think we need to find you an alternative partner to practice with…and to partner you in the competition, come to think about it."

Chad sighed. "I'm working on it. But even if I do find one, I'm still going to have to dance with you when you teach me the steps. So I'm just gonna have to get over it. I'll deal."

"Are you sure? I mean, you can pretend I'm a girl, if it helps…"

"No!" Chad shook his head furiously; making his afro shake to and fro like it was disconnected from his body. He did not need to picture Ryan as a girl; he was confused enough!

"Okay, fine. Whatever. Let's go over something else. How 'bout a rumba?"

"Great. Let's go."

Ryan nodded and instructed Chad on where his feet and his hands were supposed to go and took him through some steps. It was hard without any music, but Ryan counted out the beat for them and Chad managed to pick up the steps with his usual ease. God he loved muscle memory!

"Okay!" Ryan stopped them after it became evident that Chad had grasped the logistics. "Let's move on. We've got to condense your training."

"Sure. Move on to what?"

Now Ryan hesitated. He gave Chad a nervous look, like he was measuring him up in order to deliver some bad news. Chad couldn't help feeling worried.

"Ryan! Move on to what?"

The blonde coughed. "Uh…the tango."

"Oh." Chad practically deflated with disappointment. "Is that it? I thought you were gonna tell me you ran over my dog."

"No, don't you get it? The tango is a dance of passion. No, scratch that; it's _the_ dance of passion. It's the most intimate and dramatic dance you can learn, and I know you're gonna get really uncomfortable…"

"Ryan, I told you. I'll deal."

"Look, listen! This isn't a dance to be taken lightly, and I'm not entirely sure you know what you'd be getting into learning it with me. You might want to wait until you have girl partner, but the fact is, if you don't have the tango, you don't have the competition. It will separate the stars from the amateurs, and if you learn it, you'll be a star for sure. I'm just not sure you should learn it with me. I mean, done right, it can be dangerous…am I getting through?"

Chad sighed. The rumba had been bearable, despite him being ultra-aware of every inch of contact between him and Ryan throughout the whole thing. He was trying to forget the image of Ryan's face yesterday, all surprised and flushed and cute, and the thoughts that had run through his head at the time. Fleeting, non-specific, fractured thoughts, but _thoughts_ all the same, and try as he might, he couldn't forget the fact that they were _there_ for however brief an amount of time. He knew what Ryan was saying about the tango; it was only going to make things worse, but dammit, he had no choice! It was like Ryan said: if he didn't have the tango, he didn't have the competition.

"Just teach me Evans." he replied. Oh God, he was going to regret this…

Ryan quirked an eyebrow but received nothing more than a determined stare from Chad, so he gave an 'Alright, if that's what you wanna do.' shrug and tugged the other boy's hands into position. Their bodies were immediately pulled flush against each other, and it was all Chad could do to stop himself gasping at the contact overload. This was too close…too much…he could feel Ryan's chest through his shirt, his breath ghosting over his neck. He was everywhere…he was…

"Chad? Are you okay?"

Ryan's blue eyes were wide and searching Chad's face. He could feel them too, so warm and concerned. They locked with his own and before he knew it, instinct had taken over and he was leaning in, much closer than he was supposed to. He was leaning in, and then his lips were pressing against Ryan's so softly, the other boy was barely able to tell if they were really there at all. Just one sweet kiss…and then reason kicked back in.

"Oh dear God…"

HSM

Chad leapt away from Ryan as though he was on fire and stood, staring at him in sheer disbelief at what he had just done. Ryan was in a similar state of shock, his mouth hanging open and hands suspended in mid-air. They stayed like that for a second, and then Chad ran out as fast as he could before Ryan had a chance to react. He kept on running, not noticing the burning in his lungs or the aching in his legs, and before he knew it he was outside his house, through the front door and flung across his bed.

"Chad? Honey, why are you home so early? Did something happen at school?" His mother's voice came through his bedroom door. She seemed worried, but Chad just rolled over and curled up into the foetal position until she went away. He couldn't face her without crying. He wasn't sure he'd be able to face anyone ever again. Oh God, oh God, what had he done?

END PART 3


	4. It's about desire

**Hello! I love you people, I really do. You are definitely worth all the late nights and eyestrain this fic has given me (I write best at night. Go figure.) I firstly want to thank all the people who reviewed, notably Raining Petals and :-D, because I couldn't reply to your reviews and thank you then, so I thank you now. **

**And to Raining Petals: Fred Astaire was a famous American dancer, and singer, and movie star, and he was way before our time, so I wouldn't worry about not knowing who he is. There's a ton of stuff about him on if you want to find out more.**

**Disclaimer: They're not mine; I'm just having my wicked way with them for a while. It's fun. Try it.**

**Warning: Bad words, slashy guy-on-guy action, and kinky bondage sex. Wait…I made that last bit up…**

**Notes:** **I'm probably going to fail my GCSEs because of this story…any attempts I make at revision get railroaded by plot penguins and it's very, very worrying. Actually, the truth is that I'm just bone-idle and I can't be bothered to concentrate on anything school related. (shrugs) **

**Dedication: This is for everyone who reads it and reviews. Without you, I'd just be an obsessive girl with a computer and too much time on her hands. As it turns out, I am an obsessive girl with a computer and too much time on her hands anyway, but you guys give me an audience, and therefore a purpose. So thank you.**

* * *

Chad walked down the hallway, checking out girls as he went past.

_Nice ass…cute smile…perfect tits…_

It was after the fourth girl gave him a 'talk to the hand' that he realised he was being way too obvious and definitely overcompensating. Asserting the fact that he liked girls was not going to change the fact that he had kissed Ryan yesterday. He couldn't figure it out. Was this dancing thing turning him soft? If he pulled out, would these feelings for Ryan stop? Chad's mind wandered to Troy, and he realised the answer was no. Troy had done the full musical show tune thing, and he was still into girls, if the way his eyes went all gooey whenever Gabriella was around was anything to go by. Nope, the Ryan thing was all down to Chad. So the question arose: What was he going to do about it?

"Hey Chad!" Troy appeared out of nowhere with Gabriella glued to his hip. They walked up to Chad with matching excited grins. "Guess who's agreed to partner you…"

Chad looked at Gabriella and smiled. "Really?"

"Yep. I wasn't gonna at first, but then Troy told me you were having real trouble, so I said I'd do it."

"You have no idea how much you just saved my life!" Chad pulled Gabriella into a huge hug, stopping just short of picking her up and swinging her round in elation. Now he didn't have to spend any more time alone with Ryan, which meant there was no risk of yesterday being repeated.

"Uh, could you put me down now?" Gabriella was tugging painfully on Chad's shoulder, obviously struggling to breath. Chad apologised and let her go, blushing slightly. She grinned and rubbed her neck. "So…Troy mentioned something about a video?"

"Video?" Chad frowned. "Oh! The video! Yeah, I need to talk to you about that…"

Gabriella shrugged and let Chad pull her aside. Troy called after them, telling Chad to remember she was _his_ girlfriend. Chad laughed and watched him disappear round a corner, then turned to Gabriella, all serious and agitated. Her trusting, expectant face fell into a concerned frown.

"What's wrong Chad?"

Chad sighed. _How to phrase this?_ "There is no video." _Okay, good start…_

"What do you mean?"

"Ryan is the video. He's been teaching me."

Gabriella scrunched her nose in confusion. "Why?"

_Good question…_ "He said I was good and he wanted to help."

"Okay…but why did you lie?"

"We have to keep it a secret from Sharpay. She'll kill him all kinds of dead if she finds out."

"True…but why not tell Troy?"

Chad paused. _Extremely__ good question…_ "I…I'm not sure exactly. It was just easier with no one knowing I guess."

Gabriella chewed her lip. "So now that I'm in the loop, am I expected to lie to Troy as well?"

"Yes. Well, no. I mean…no. He can be in the loop too. But he has to understand the importance of this remaining secret, right?"

Gabriella nodded and gave him the Girl Scout salute. Chad laughed, feeling a little relieved that he would be able to talk to his best friend about this dancing thing, like he wanted to when he was meeting Ryan for the first time. Then again, events had since occurred that Chad was most definitely not going to be sharing.

Gabriella smiled, eager to start now that she could let her boyfriend in on the secret. "So when's our first session together?"

"Ah…" Chad did an awkward little shuffle. "I'm supposed to be meeting Ryan during free period today."

"You say that like there's a problem."

"Well, Ryan might not be talking to me anymore…"

"Why not? Did you have a fight?"

"Not exactly…"

"Were you mean?"

Chad grimaced. "No, I was real friendly actually."

"Well then what?"

"Nothing! A line was just crossed, okay? Look, I have to go. I'll see you free period?"

"Sure." Gabriella watched Chad stalk off in completely the wrong direction for his class and sighed. There was something weird going on, and now Chad had gone and piqued her curiosity by being all defensive. She knew she was going to have to tell Troy about how weird Chad was acting. Maybe she could rope him into sleuthing a little with her. One thing was for sure though; Gabriella was now itching for free period to come round.

HSM

The first thing Gabriella noticed when she met up with Chad was his painful reluctance to go anywhere near the classroom where Ryan was supposedly waiting.

"He's probably not even there." he squeaked. Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"All you have to do is apologise for whatever it is you did, and get on with practising for the competition." She gave him a gentle shove through the door, ignoring his squawks of protest, and then followed him inside. They were greeted by a very moody Ryan, perched upon a desk and looking every inch as miserable to be there as Chad was. Gabriella was fascinated. Chad glanced at her, pleading with those big brown eyes of his. She nudged him pointedly in the ribs and he sighed.

"Look, Ryan, I'm sorry about…what happened…yesterday. I don't know what came over me. I should never have done that and…"

"It's fine." The blonde interrupted him. "You apologised so it's fine. We don't have to talk about it anymore."

Chad seemed shocked. "Really?"

"I said so, didn't I?" Ryan snapped. He winced at his own harshness, but remained unapologetic. He nodded towards Gabriella. "Is she your new dance partner?"

Chad nodded.

"Fine. How many of the steps do you know?"

"Uh…none?" Gabriella answered. She was itching to ask what it was that Chad had done yesterday, but something told her if she did then she would probably regret it. The tension in the air was so thick it would take a chainsaw to hack through it.

"Okay." Ryan rolled his neck, limbering up. "Looks like we're going to have to go over everything again. Chad can show you all the positions. I'll start the music." He hit a button on a battered old stereo dug out from some forgotten department of the school, and they began. Gabriella struggled to pick up all the steps Chad had already learned, but she was able to follow his lead, and both boys were patient with her. Occasionally, Ryan would stop them and adjust her position, or take Chad's place momentarily and demonstrate a certain move. Gabriella noticed that when she wasn't quite right, Ryan would immediately step over and physically correct her, but when Chad wasn't quite right, he corrected him verbally. They never touched. She wondered why.

Suddenly, the bell rang for next period. The time had gone real quickly for Gabriella, but judging by the way both Chad and Ryan eagerly jumped up and left before the last note stopped ringing, time had moved much more slowly for them. Gabriella drew her eyebrows together in thought, going over every little detail she had managed to pick up between the two boys. She couldn't quite piece it together enough to make sense, but she was going to eventually. All she needed was a second perspective…

HSM

Chad made it to class with just one emotion running through his body - relief. He was going to make it through this dance competition, thanks to sweet, beautiful little Gabriella. With her in the picture, there was no need to touch Ryan, and without touching Ryan, there were no temptations or brief moments of insanity. Granted, it was still so awkward he felt like ramming his own fist down his throat just to make it stop, but there was no touching. He could cope.

He was still confused though. Even though he wasn't making physical contact in any way with Ryan, he still _felt_ him, like every nerve in his body was tingling with the blonde's presence. He tried his best to concentrate on the dancing, but one thought kept running through his head on an endless taunting loop.

_You kissed him. You kissed that boy. That one, right there. You kissed him!_

It was torture, but he had survived, and he knew that it was only going to get better. He just had to focus on Gabriella as his partner, and getting the steps right, and not thinking weird thoughts about Ryan. He didn't even care about winning the competition anymore; he just wanted it over with as quickly as possible so he could return to some sense of normality. He refused to think about the possibility that there might not be any going back…

HSM

Weeks passed and it still didn't get any less awkward between Ryan and Chad. Gabriella had told Troy as soon as possible, and though at first he reacted by bursting out laughing in Chad's face, within ten minutes the novelty had worn off and Gabriella was able to rope him into her little project entitled 'What did Chad do to make things all weird between him and Ryan?' She was a sweet, bright girl, but naming things had never been her forte.

Eventually, Ryan had upped Chad and Gabriella to his prestigious tango, and Chad worked hard at it despite the painful reminder of what he was trying to forget that he had done. He managed to get through it purely by fixing his eyes firmly on Gabriella's and acknowledging the presence of no one but him and her. Except Ryan had an annoying habit of breaking this illusion by snapping every five minutes: 'Where's your passion? I'm not feeling it!'

Chad tried to ignore him. After all, he was fighting every day to make sure Ryan didn't 'feel it', even if it meant his dancing sucked…but then one day Ryan upped the bar and said,

"Come on Chad, it's about _desire_. You were so close before, why can't you get it now?"

He had mentioned that session. The session they never spoke of. Chad gritted his teeth as memories flooded back, memories he had been denying himself for a good couple of weeks now. It wasn't fair; he'd been coping. Why do this now?

_It's about desire…so close…_

And then suddenly it wasn't Gabriella in front of Chad anymore. He was back in that empty classroom, pulled flush against Ryan and feeling _everything_ all over again. Except this time, he didn't lean in for that kiss. He just danced, like Ryan wanted him to, like he wanted to with Ryan, and they swept across the whole floor, spinning and snapping, moving so quickly until they were out of breath and the music stopped. Slowly, the classroom faded away, and Chad realised that he hadn't been dancing with Ryan after all, that it was Gabriella in his arms all flushed and awe-struck. His eyes slid over to where the real Ryan was and he saw something burning in his eyes. Something he didn't care to be seeing. The blonde was right: this dance was about desire…and it was definitely dangerous.

HSM

Ryan was officially miserable. When Chad had kissed him, he had been beyond shocked. Then slowly, the shock faded away into anger. How dare Chad Danforth make fun of him like that? Just because he loved drama and wore stylish clothes and actually _co-ordinated_ his outfits, because he actually _cared_ about his appearance, everyone assumed he was gay. He was, but that was beside the point. He didn't know what kind of statement Chad was making when he kissed him, but Ryan could definitely eliminate the possibility that Chad had done it because he was attracted to him. The basketball jock was as straight as they came…that had been made strikingly clear when he had apologised the next day with Gabriella egging him on. He had obviously been boasting about what a fool he made out of Ryan, and then Gabriella had guilt tripped him into apologising. And then…then Chad had danced that tango with Gabriella…

It was Ryan's own fault. He kept going on at Chad to put more passion into it, and then he did. Maybe a little too much for Ryan's liking. God, it had looked like Chad was going to eat Gabriella alive during that dance…and Ryan couldn't help thinking he had done it on purpose, to prove even further that the kiss had been nothing more than a joke. And even worse was the fact that when Chad had danced like that with Gabriella, Ryan had felt a spike of _jealousy_. He had liked that kiss, fake as it had been. And he hated himself for it. He hated himself because he couldn't bring himself to hate Chad. It was all his fault for letting his guard down. Chad was a jock, for crying out loud! What had he expected? Oh God, he just wanted it all to be over so he could put as much distance between him and Chad as possible, before Chad could make a fool out of him any more than he had done already. It wasn't fair! All he was doing was helping, why did Chad have to do this? And why was he letting him?

Suddenly, something clicked into place in Ryan's head. Chad was trying to mess his head up before the competition! Well, he had almost succeeded. Almost. Ryan was onto him now, and he wasn't going to let him get away with it. If Chad could play dirty, then so could Ryan – and he had just the move to do it with…

END PART 4


	5. So this is sabotage?

**Well hello! It's been a while…again…**

**I won't bore you with lengthy notes. Just accept my apology for taking ages again, and also for having such a limited knowledge of dance moves, etc…okay? Great!**

**Disclaimer:**** To my severe and bitter disappointment, none of it is mine. I borrow, I pervert, but I do not profit. Well, not financially…**

**Warning:**** Bad language and homoerotic themes throughout. Do enjoy.**

**Notes:**** I probably should have taken more time over the last chapter…I promise this one won't be so rushed.**

**Dedication:**** To you. Yes, you. (points) Oh! Especially if you reviewed, particularly fireflower314, Fred, lara and loveless101, because I couldn't get back to you and thank you personally. The reviews are what keep me going!**

* * *

"Ryan! Are you even listening to me?" Sharpay shrieked at her very highest pitch. After getting no response, she marched across to the other side of her bedroom where her brother was sitting and gave him a swift slap upside the head, but even that received the very minimum of attention. He merely glanced up from his notebook, ceasing his furious scrawling for only a second, and gave a quick, non-committal nod. Sharpay's patience was beginning to wear thin.

"Okay, just what the hell are you writing in that notebook that's so interesting?" she snapped.

"I'm mapping out dance steps." Ryan replied. Sharpay quirked an eyebrow before snatching the notebook and reading it, ignoring Ryan's mewls of protest.

"But…this isn't our routine…"

"I know."

"So…who's is it?"

Ryan sighed. The time had come at last to give Chad and Gabriella a routine to work on for the competition. He had purposefully left it to the last minute, to fluster them, and now he was deliberating over which killer move he should choreograph the whole thing around, but he needed Sharpay's help. It was time to come clean and pray for mercy. He took a deep breath…

"This is a routine I'm working on…for Chad Danforth."

Sharpay gasped. "WHAT?"

"Now Sharpay, it's not what it sounds like…"

"You're helping out that…that…JOCK?!? I cannot believe I'm even related to you! What were you thinking?"

"Look!" Ryan grabbed Sharpay by the shoulders, forcing her to stand still and listen to him. "I've been teaching Chad to dance for the past few weeks, and now I'm choreographing his routine for the dance competition, but I'm _not_ doing it to help him. I'm choreographing the whole routine so it depends on one killer move that he could never hope to pull off in a million years. Okay?"

Sharpay looked at Ryan as if he had just landed from Mars, and then comprehension slowly dawned on her face. "Oh." She smiled. "So this is sabotage?"

Ryan nodded.

"Oh I'm so proud of you!" Sharpay squealed as she threw her arms around her brother and _squeezed._ "Who'd have thought? My brother dreaming up evil schemes of his own! So…what move were you planning on using?"

Ryan extricated himself from her grip, a pained wince twisting his mouth. "That's what I need you for."

Sharpay grinned. Ryan smiled back, ignoring the twinge of guilt that was niggling at his stomach. It would all be over after the dance competition, he told himself. Then he wouldn't have to worry about Chad ever again…

HSM

When Ryan introduced the routine to Chad and Gabriella, they were excited and relieved to finally have something concrete to be practicing for the competition. An hour and a half later, their mood had changed dramatically.

"Dammit Ryan! It's no use!" Chad huffed as he got up from what had to be the hundredth time he had fallen over that day. "This routine is too complex! We're nowhere near that good yet!"

Gabriella slumped onto a nearby desk, gasping for breath. "He's right. The footwork's too intense! I can hardly keep up."

Ryan smiled inwardly. Outwardly, he bore a look of steely determination. "You guys can do this. I know you can. I came up with the routine specifically with your skills in mind. All you have to do is keep working and you'll get it."

Chad blinked. "Even the impossible sequence in the middle where we have to come out of that double spin and I have to toss Gabby up in the air, catch her and then swing her round into a swooping dip, all without falling over?"

"It's not impossible." Ryan replied. "And yes. You can even do that. Just work together and it will all be fine. Trust me. Now I've gotta go and meet Sharpay. See you tomorrow!" Chad and Gabriella could only gape as Ryan gave a cheerful wave and disappeared out of the classroom, leaving them exhausted and frustrated.

Outside the school, waiting in the Evan's shared convertible was Sharpay. She waited as Ryan emerged from the building, made his way over to the car and got in.

"So…how did it go?"

Ryan sighed. "They're good. They might pick it up…in a few weeks. But there's no way they'll get it in time for the competition. Especially that key sequence you came up with." He turned and grinned. "That was pure evil genius, by the way."

"Did you expect any different?"

"Of course not. Now let's go home and work on our own routine."

"Sure. But you'd better be sure that they mess this up. Remember what happened last time we underestimated Gabriella? And you do keep saying that Chad is full of surprises when it comes to dancing…"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Sharpay, I'm sure. Just relax. We have this in the bag."

Sharpay narrowed her eyes. "I hope so. You put a lot at stake when you decided to freelance here. It had better pay off."

"It will." Ryan insisted, almost petulantly. Sharpay snorted and turned on the engine, seemingly satisfied. She didn't notice her brother chew nervously on his bottom lip as the guilt fought its way to the surface again.

HSM

Chad hadn't stopped staring at the door since Ryan had disappeared through it five minutes ago.

"We're screwed." He simply said. Gabriella, though attempting to be more optimistic than her dance partner, couldn't help but agree. It was hard to be optimistic when you were faced with the prospect of being dropped over and over again from a considerable height by a guy who was used to handling a basketball rather than an actual human being. And eventually go through the whole thing again, but in front of an audience too. How had she let Troy talk her into doing this again?

"Knock knock!" Almost on cue, Troy's head peered round the doorway. "Would you two kids be interested in a ride home?"

Gabriella looked over at Chad. He was obviously deflated at the thought of how impossible this routine was. If they couldn't do it in the competition in a few days, then it would be the single most humiliating day of his high school life. It would prove Sharpay Evans and Ms Darbus and everyone else who doubted him right, and she knew he wouldn't be able to bear it. So failing wasn't an option, and therefore neither was giving up. Hadn't Ryan said that they just need to keep working together and they would get it? Well then, that was what they were going to have to do.

"Actually Troy, we're gonna stay here and practice a while longer."

Chad's head snapped up. "We are?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yes we are. This is just like studying for a final. You have to keep going over the key facts over and over again, and if necessary, cram like crazy. So we're cramming. Now get up and throw me around this floor, Danforth!"

"Uh…okay…" Troy quirked an eyebrow at his girlfriend's sudden bossiness. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Gabriella noticed a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Oh, I'm sorry I've hardly seen you all day Troy," She made her way over to the door and put an apologetic hand on his arm. "But this routine Ryan sprang on us is really hard and we've got to really work at it. I just want to make this work for Chad, and I know you want that too. After all, you got him into this, and you did talk me into helping get him out…"

"So I've just got to grin and bear it, I know." Troy smiled and gave Gabriella a soft kiss on the lips. "You're just lucky I'm not the jealous type."

Gabriella laughed and Troy left, leaving her and Chad alone. She turned to him and folded her arms across her chest, drawing her eyebrows together in grim determination.

"Okay basketball boy, let's dance!"

* * *

Two and a half hours later, Chad stumbled home looking every inch the living dead. His mom was in the kitchen, singing along with the radio.

"Hard day?" she called. Chad made some grunt in reply, causing his mom to inquisitively duck her head into the lounge and watch him collapse stiffly onto the couch. She instantly became concerned. "So…how's the dancing coming along?"

"Bad." Chad groaned. "Too hard. Keep falling. Bruises. Pain. Hopeless." He and Gabriella had gone over and over the routine. They still couldn't get the key sequence, but they had come close. Unfortunately, close wasn't going to win them the competition. But he wasn't sure that he cared anymore.

Mrs Danforth sighed and sat down next to him. "Well honey, sometimes when you want something you just have to keep trying, no matter how hard it gets."

Chad nodded. She was right. And he did want this. He wanted to dance and prove everybody wrong…and Ryan right. Suddenly an image popped into his head – a memory of when Ryan had first tried to teach him the tango. He had wanted something different then, if only for a second, and he wasn't sure what that meant.

"Chad?" His mom noticed his uncertainty. "Is something wrong?"

"What about things you're not even sure you want…things you just want for a moment…like an impulse? Should you try and work for those as well?"

"Are we talking about something like the impulse to buy a pair of shoes? Or to eat candy? Something like that?"

Chad smirked. "No, nothing so…superficial. I mean…like a need! An overwhelming need that you can't forget about. But you're not even sure what it is that you need, just that you…need…something. I'm not really explaining this very well, am I?"

Mrs Danforth gave a coy sort of smile. "I think I'm following you. This is about a girl, right?"

"What? Oh, no! No, nothing like that." Chad stammered, feeling heat rise in his cheeks. By all rights it _should_ be about a girl, but he wasn't going to announce that to his mom of all people.

"Well, if _was_ about a girl, I'd tell you to work even harder to get what you want. If anything is ever worth fighting for, it's love." And with that Mrs Danforth gave her son a kiss on the forehead and then left to carry on with dinner in the kitchen, having imparted her motherly wisdom for the day. Chad was left alone on the couch, deep in thought. It was a state he was becoming all too familiar with due to this stupid competition, and it wasn't a state he particularly cared to be in right now. He ached so much that even using his brain hurt.

Suddenly his mother's voice floated in from the kitchen, stirring Chad from his deep thought. "Why don't you go straight up to bed? I'm sure things will seem much clearer in the morning."

Chad mulled it over for a second before deciding that he definitely agreed with his mom, so he heaved himself to his feet and crawled up the stairs to his bedroom by force of sheer willpower alone. He just about managed to collapse onto his bed, still fully clothed, before falling deeply asleep. Everything that was plaguing Chad Danforth would just have to wait for now…

HSM

When Chad woke up the next day he felt rested, refreshed and, thanks to the heated dream he had been having involving Ryan and that _damn_ tango, aroused. His mom had been right about things seeming clearer in the morning; he just hadn't expected a part of his anatomy to give him such a literal pointer.

"Time to get up!" Mrs Danforth suddenly burst into the room, full of morning cheer, and Chad desperately scrabbled about in an attempt to hide his 'pointer'. No such luck.

"Oh, honey! God, I am so sorry!" Mrs Danforth struggled to hide a smirk as she hurriedly backed out the room, closing the door behind her. Chad just about managed to catch her muttering under her breath something along the lines of 'I knew it was about a girl.' before he internally died of shame.

"Great. Just great." Chad grumbled to himself and flopped out of bed, intending to take a long shower, but the sudden movement caused him to stop dead in his tracks. He hadn't thought it possible, but his body ached even _more_ than it had yesterday! Sighing, he forced himself onto his feet and shuffled into the bathroom. His feet became even heavier once he remembered that he was going to have to practice even more today, although he drew some comfort from knowing that Gabriella was feeling the strain every inch as much as he was…possibly even more as she wasn't even athletic. Despite that, Chad still knew that today was gonna suck. Because although the thought of getting bruises on top of his already established bruises was painful enough, there was also the fact that he would have to face Ryan Evans in the process. The prospect made his stomach twist.

How was he supposed to act normally around the guy after having homoerotic dreams about him? It was going to be harder than ever to ignore his attraction to the drama geek with semi-pornographic flashbacks going through his head every ten seconds. But then, did he really want to ignore it any more?

The fact that he had been doing so for so long was entirely uncharacteristic. In the past, if Chad Danforth wanted something, he went right out and took it without a second thought. It wasn't hard to see why he was having trouble going out and getting this particular something, but that didn't change the fact that Chad did want it and he hadn't taken it yet. But was that because he wasn't entirely sure what 'it' was that he wanted, or because he sort of already had an idea and he was too shit scared to do anything about it?

If he took a second and actually confronted these feelings for Ryan, would things become a little bit easier to handle? Did he want to be able to handle things easier if it meant confronting these feelings for Ryan? Confrontation would mean clarification, and clarification would take him out of the safe little grey area of confusion he had been hiding in…was he ready for that? Was he ready to face the fact that being attracted to another guy might mean he was possibly a little gay? Maybe even more than a little? Not entirely, though. He still liked girls. He was certain of that much.

Suddenly Chad felt sick to the stomach. There were too many questions banging around in his head and too few answers. He couldn't cope with all this turmoil right now. It was making him beyond dizzy.

"That's it. I call a truce." Chad whimpered and gingerly crawled back into bed, intending to ask his mom to call in sick for him. He knew the nausea and the dizziness would probably wear off in a few minutes, but he needed to straighten out his head for a while, and school was the worst place for it. There was no way he would be able to face that place and the people in it today. Not without having some nervous breakdown.

HSM

"Okay, mister!" Gabriella stormed into Chad's room that afternoon, taking his state of undress and visible misery in her stride. "I don't care if you're dying of pneumonia! We have a mountain to climb before the dance competition in just two days, so get up off your butt and darn well practice with me! I am not gonna let you give up just because Ryan gave us a ridiculously tricky routine!"

Chad stared at her in shock. She waited for a few seconds before snapping at him to go and get dressed, then stormed out of the room again to wait out in the hallway. Only then did she allow herself to blush. When he came out to join her, she regained her composure and led him downstairs to the lounge, where Mrs Danforth had already moved the furniture around to provide ample practice space. Chad braced himself.

"So, how long are we practicing for?"

"All night long, if we have to." Gabriella replied. "Plus the hour you owe me for not turning up to practice at lunch today."

Chad winced. "I was worried you might say that." He reluctantly took up the starting position, but forced a smile. "You know Montez, you're real cute when you play hardball."

"Shut up and dance."

"Yes ma'am."

"And try not to drop me too much."

"I'll do my best."

"And quit worrying about the sequence in the middle. We'll get it."

"If you say so."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

The two began going through the routine, which by now had been burned into their brains. The middle sequence kept ending in disaster for the first ten attempts, and for the next ten it ended in only mild catastrophe. They kept trying and trying, Chad giving up hope somewhere between the thirty-sixth and forty-third attempt but still carrying on for fear of what Gabriella might do to him if he even thought of complaining. Then, on the fiftieth run, a miracle happened. Chad and Gabriella got to the middle sequence and made it out of the dizzying double spin, then moved smoothly into the lift and the toss, neither resulting in Chad dropping Gabriella or losing his balance and falling over. He caught her and swung her round, keeping his footing and supporting her weight, and then suddenly she was inches from the ground in the extravagant dip that signalled the end of the sequence.

"Did we just successfully get through that sequence?" Chad asked, still supporting Gabriella in the dip, too stunned to move.

"Yeah, I think we did." Gabriella grinned from ear to ear. The expression spread to Chad and he finally snapped out of his state of shock to pull her upright and crush her in a huge, celebratory bear-hug.

"We did it! We did it!" They chanted, jumping up and down and laughing. Suddenly Gabriella stopped.

"Wait, we forgot the rest of the routine."

"Oh yeah. We should probably practice that."

"Yeah…let's go from the dip."

"Cool."

And so they went through the rest of the routine, completing the entire thing for the very first time. And when they had, Chad only had one thing running through his mind: he couldn't wait to tell Ryan…

* * *

**If the actual 'killer move' seems a bit crappy, then I apologise. My imagination is lacking when it comes to choreography.**

**I also have to say that the music video 'I Don't Dance' was one of the comical highlights of my year. The irony alone had me laughing till my sides hurt, not to mention all the falling over each other those two did at the end. Oh, and how Chad kept singing the line 'I Don't Dance' while he was in actual fact dancing.**

**Now if only I knew what the hell that song has to do with the actual film…stupid delay between American and British release…(grumbles)**


	6. Just once?

**It's short, I know, but I just sat and wrote and before I knew it the chapter reached a logical conclusion. Be happy you have another chapter at all. I'm killing myself getting this written **_**and**_** getting all my schoolwork done too. I mean literally: my skin has visibly paled with the strain!**

**Anyway, fic:**

**Disclaimer:**** I think we all know by now that I do not own anything, although I would give my right arm to have the rights so I can make the cast of HSM actually film and televise this…so if the Disney corporation is interested in my right arm, we should totally do lunch.**

**Warning:**** Bad words, boy-on-boy, and a complete lack of concern as to whether that offends you or not.**

**Dedication:**

* * *

Sharpay was pacing the stage. Furiously. Every now and then she would direct a withering glance at her brother, who could only stay silent and pray she didn't forcibly remove any part of his anatomy. He reckoned his legs and arms were safe – Sharpay still needed him fit for the dance competition and her rage wasn't so blind that she had forgotten that – but a finger or an earlobe could easily go without directly affecting his ability to perform…

Suddenly Sharpay wheeled around. "You said they wouldn't get it in time!"

"I didn't think they possibly could!" was the meek reply.

"I warned you about underestimating them…"

"I didn't! It was one time…a fluke! They won't get it right on the night. They've exhausted themselves so much concentrating on getting it that one time that when it comes to performing it in the competition, they'll crack under the pressure. It's not a problem, I swear!"

Sharpay narrowed her eyes. "A fluke?"

"Just a fluke." Ryan nodded.

"And they're completely exhausted?"

"Spent all night practicing that one sequence. They don't even have the rest of the routine in check yet."

"But they do have that sequence…"

"No they don't. They did it once. You know it takes more than one good run to get it in the bag."

"And they'll fall apart on the night?"

"Without fail."

"…Okay then."

Sharpay discarded her aggressive scowl and replaced it with a classic winning smile. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, then hopped off the stage and breezed out of the auditorium.

"Sharpay!" Ryan called after her. "Sharpay, we still have to practice!"

He was met with the empty swish of the door in reply.

* * *

**ONE HOUR EARLIER…**

Chad ambled into school yawning and working the stiffness out of his poor abused limbs. Gabriella hadn't gone home until the smallest hours of the morning, when her mom came to pick her up after deciding that 2.30am was not an appropriate time for her daughter to still be out at…especially alone in a boy's house. She found Gabriella curled up on Chad's couch, completely burned out. It had been a shame to wake her, but she couldn't be left where she was. After that all Chad remembered was easing down onto his bed and closing his eyes, then opening them again at 6.30am. He had slept so soundly that he hadn't even dreamed – even his subconscious was exhausted!

"Good morning stud!" Troy bounced up to Chad on the way to homeroom and grinned. "I heard you spent all of last night entertaining my girlfriend…"

Chad rolled his eyes. "Dude, she went completely military on my ass! She was like your dad, only way more scary."

Troy laughed. "But you got it eventually, right? The hard part?"

Now it was Chad's turn to grin. "Yeah, we did."

"So everything's going to be okay?"

Chad inhaled slowly, taking in the clear, morning air and feeling refreshingly optimistic. "Yeah, I think so." he said. Troy struggled not to look as relieved as he obviously felt – he still felt pretty bad for getting his best friend into this whole mess. Chad was feeling a little playful and considered giving him more grief over it, but soon dropped the idea when he spied Ryan walking down the hallway (two footsteps behind his sister, as always). Butterflies immediately filled his stomach. All morning long Chad had been psyched to think of Ryan's face when he told him that he had been right to believe in his and Gabriella's capabilities. He hadn't spent any more time working out how he felt about Ryan, but he knew that when he told him they had gotten the sequence, the drama geek would be proud of him, and the thought of that made Chad go a little warm inside.

"Look, see you around later Troy. I gotta talk to Ryan." Chad clapped Troy on the shoulder and walked off in Ryan's direction. He caught his eye and signalled for Ryan to follow him, then ducked around a corner. Perplexed, Ryan soon appeared behind him.

"Hey, what's up?"

Chad glanced around, checking that they had some privacy. All was clear after Sharpay could be heard clip clopping all the way onto a separate floor.

"Okay, I have some good news."

Ryan quirked an eyebrow. "Good news?"

"Yep."

"Go on…"

"We got it."

Ryan blinked. "Got what?"

"The impossible sequence! The one with the spin and the lift and the dip…we got it!"

Ryan blinked again. "Really?"

"Yeah! You were right; we just had to keep working together."

"When you say you 'got it'…"

"Well, we managed to do it once."

"Just once?"

"Yeah. Oh, you should have seen it Ryan! It was the coolest thing ever and…"

"I'm sorry, I'm just making sure I heard right: you only got it once?"

Chad's face fell. "I thought you'd be happy…"

"I am! I just…I didn't think you'd get it this fast…"

An awkward silence fell over the two boys as Ryan seemed to withdraw into himself with conflicting emotions ghosting across his face, and Chad was left not really sure how Ryan was reacting. Finally, Ryan seemed to make a decision.

"That's really great news. I'm proud of you." he said with genuine warmth in his eyes. Then, as an afterthought he said, "You must have worked really hard for that…you should take a break. Both of you should. You deserve it. Both of you, you really deserve it." Then he mumbled his excuses and walked off to find Sharpay…

* * *

And so Ryan stood, an hour later, staring at the empty doors through which his sister had just left. His head was swimming with so many different thoughts and feelings that he was starting to feel dizzy, and he carefully sat down on the edge of the stage, trying to breathe evenly. He honestly didn't think there was any need to panic, but he was doing it anyway. He was quite certain that he hadn't just lied through his teeth to Sharpay and that Chad and Gabriella genuinely would fall apart come crunch time, but the thing that was puzzling him was the complete lack of satisfaction he got from knowing that. The more compassionate part of him was still feeling overwhelmingly guilty about sabotaging Chad's dancing efforts after swearing an intension to do the opposite, but he managed to keep that at bay by remembering Chad's twisted little joke, whatever that had meant. There was however, a big fat flaw in that method in that it just wasn't sticking anymore.

When Chad had told Ryan that he and Gabriella had supposedly cracked the sequence, there was something in his expression that had really bugged Ryan: a complete lack of smugness. If anything, Ryan could have sworn that those big brown eyes had been pleading with him to show some kind of approval. And he had more or less resembled a kicked puppy when that approval hadn't come gushing forth…and as much as Ryan hated to admit it to himself, he knew these were not the actions of someone out to spite him. These were the actions of someone who had put their trust in him, and worked flat out to prove themselves, and after realising that; no matter what angle he came at it from, Ryan could see that he had foolishly lashed out and made himself the bad guy. But it was too late to turn back now. Sharpay was involved. He had no choice but to let everything play out and pray for something in the vein of a happy ending. He only hoped that wasn't too much to wish for. Sighing, he left for the classes he knew he wouldn't be able to concentrate on. All that was rattling around in his head was the need to work out what had motivated Chad to kiss him if not spite, and he'd be damned if _that_ little mystery wasn't going to really fry his noodle…

* * *

**I also saw HSM2, because my friend made me. There were far too many opportunities for me to read into Chad and Ryan exchanges, to be honest. And thank God they didn't give Ryan a female love interest! Kept him nice and camp, the sweet little darlings. Anyway, it was okay. I'm glad Ryan came into his own, but that's about it. I was otherwise nonplussed.**

**Review, if you see fit. I will greatly appreciate feedback to fuel the next chapter, which will be longer than this one. And more to the point: less angsty musings, more action!**


	7. It's not a girl, is it?

**It's been far too long. I know. I'm sorry. Self-flagellating as we speak. Anyway, it's long(ish) to make up for it…and I may have lied when I said less angsty musings…but this is the last of the non-action pre-dance contest chapters! I promise!**

**Disclaimer:**** Not mine. Don't sue.**

**Warning:**** Over-angst and dialogue-heavy. Also guy love and bad words. No like no read.**

**Dedication:**** To everyone who reads and/or reviews. The feedback and support I've been getting is really overwhelming, thank you!**

**Special mention to Sadatoni: Thank you for reviewing!**

**And StillThereForMe: Congrats darling! I knew I wouldn't win against you…**

* * *

It was after school, and Chad and Gabriella were hanging at Troy's house, relaxing just like Ryan said. They had the afternoon sun, Mrs Bolton's homemade lemonade, and the sweet, simple pleasure of just sitting on their asses all day. Gabriella had half-heartedly tried to insist on practicing a little more to make sure they had it right, but Chad told her that Ryan said rest was more important right now, and to be honest, she didn't need much convincing. She was beat. They both were.

"So…" Troy sipped his lemonade and threw Chad a coy smile. "Who is she?"

"Who is who?"

"This girl you've got the hots for."

Chad sprang up off the ground and spluttered, "Huh?"

"Aw, come on! Like you could keep this from me. You're crushing on someone, I know it."

"_How_ do you know this?"

Troy shrugged. "Your mom told me."

Chad groaned and sank back to the ground. He could guess exactly how much detail his mom had gone into…how embarrassing!

"So…you gonna tell us who she is?"

Chad laughed. "No."

"That's not a denial…" said Gabriella.

"True." Troy smirked. "But I really want a name."

"Well you're not getting one."

"Don't be like that. I'm your best friend; you're supposed to tell me who you're crushing on. It's practically the law!"

"He'll just keep bugging you until you tell him." Gabriella warned.

"I don't care!"

"Is she a cheerleader?"

"Troy…" Chad growled.

"Is she taken? Or did she knock you back already?"

"Troy, please…"

"Describe her to me. Is she pretty? Tall? Short? Smart?"

"Look, I don't…"

"Blonde? Brunette? What does her name start with?"

"Troy!"

"Is she even at high school?"

Suddenly Chad snapped and yelled, "Troy just SHUT UP already! It's not even a…" Then he stopped abruptly, clasping a hand to his mouth as if to stop more words tumbling out, and his eyes went wide with horror. He had almost said it…he had almost told them it wasn't a girl. And he could see the cogs whirring in their heads; they weren't stupid. They knew what he had almost said. All three of them were frozen in the moment, afraid of the reality that would come crashing down if anyone moved or made a sound. The tension was so electric that the breeze was causing little static sparks in the air. What would happen if one of them were to ignite?

"Kids!" The voice of Mrs Bolton came floating out from the house, breaking the trio out of their trance. "Do you want anymore lemonade?"

Troy's head snapped round to the back door and eventually he cleared his throat and answered. "No thanks, mom! We're fine!"

Gabriella was staring intently at Chad, who was making a determined effort to look anywhere but at her or Troy. She was scared that pressing the issue would take them to some very uncomfortable places, but she also wanted to know for sure what he was about to say before he stopped himself. It was the same curiosity that had snagged her when Chad hadn't been talking to Ryan, and that curiosity had gone unquenched. She wasn't going to let him have two mysteries over her. She had to know what that last word was. It just couldn't go unspoken.

"Chad?" She inched closer to him and used her softest, most reassuring voice. "What were you going to say?"

"I wasn't going to say anything." Chad had sat up and pulled his knees up to his chin, and his was mumbling into them like a petulant child. Gabriella decided to treat him as such.

"Yes you were. You said '_It's not even a…_' It's not even a 'what' Chad? What were you going to say?"

"It's not important." he huffed. There was a whiny misery to his voice that Gabriella had heard before, and suddenly something clicked inside her head. She knew why Chad didn't want to talk about who his crush was on…why Chad and Ryan never touched during practice…and she knew that if she was going to get him to open up about it, then Troy had to be elsewhere.

"Troy, could you go inside for a while? I need to talk to Chad alone."

Troy quirked an eyebrow, but did as he was told. He could tell when only a girl could smooth things over. As soon as he was out of earshot, Gabriella put a finger underneath Chad's chin and gently lifted his head up so that he faced her.

"It's not a girl, is it?"

Chad's eyes began to moisten and he looked away out of shame. He couldn't bring himself to deny it, but he didn't want to admit it either. Gabriella felt a stab of sympathy for him and quickly pulled him into a hug.

"It's Ryan, isn't it?" she whispered. "That's why you don't touch."

Chad burst into tears. "I don't know what to do!" he sobbed. Gabriella hushed him and held him tightly, and gradually he managed to tell her everything, right from the first time he dipped Ryan to that stupid tango and his stupid dreams. She listened with compassion and when he had finished, she used a corner of her shirt to dry some of his tears.

"You don't want me to tell Troy about this, do you?"

Chad shook his head. She could see why. It wasn't something that was likely to go down well with the basketball team, and even though Troy was different, he was still a guy – a heterosexual guy – and Chad was nowhere near ready to tell him any of this.

"I'm here for you. If you ever need to talk, I'll just be a phone call away."

"Thanks Gabriella." Chad wiped his eyes on his sleeve and smiled. A visible weight had lifted off of his shoulders, and he seemed a lot happier than he had been in weeks. Whoever said that a problem shared was a problem halved certainly knew what they were talking about.

HSM

Inside the house, Troy had been watching from the window. He had been alarmed when Chad burst into tears and started crying on Gabriella's shoulder like a baby. He honestly couldn't remember ever seeing Chad cry before, so he knew that this was serious. Then, after opening the window just a crack, he caught the words he hadn't wanted to hear, even though something told him that they were coming: _And then I kissed him_…

_Him_. The word kept bouncing around Troy's head until he felt like screaming. _Him_. Chad had kissed _him_. '_Him_' meant 'not female' which meant 'guy', which meant that Chad, Troy's best friend since before he could remember, was gay. When Troy reached this point in his thinking, it was like the rest of the world faded into the background and all he could hear was his own blood pounding through his ears. He felt dizzy, he felt sick, and he was having killer palpitations. But after a moment of panic, he realised that Chad being gay wasn't his problem; it was Chad's, and he calmed down a little. He looked out at Chad cradled in Gabriella's arms and couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. Sobbing like a girl while your best friend's girlfriend comforted you had to be a really dark place to be. He had to help somehow. Chad was his best friend. His gay best friend, admittedly, but his best friend none the less.

"You can come back out now!" Gabriella called. Troy ambled back outside and sat down in front of them.

"I heard everything." he said. Chad froze with fear, and Gabriella looked at him with apprehension, willing him to be reasonable.

"Troy…" Chad began, but Troy interrupted, eager to get in first.

"Look, before I say anything, I just want to get something cleared up."

"What?" Chad asked, failing to hide the dread in his voice. Troy paused. It was an awkward question that he was about to ask, but if he didn't then he knew it was going to plague him forever.

"In the locker rooms, did you ever…"

"Whoah!" Chad cut him off, seeing exactly where he was going. "No! No way!"

"What about the showers?"

"Dude!" Chad's face screwed up in disgust. "You guys are all like brothers to me! I would never even consider…"

"Okay!" Troy laughed. Chad's disgust at the very idea of what he was suggesting was reassuringly genuine. "I believe you. It's cool."

Chad breathed an incredible sigh of relief and Gabriella smiled, pulling her boyfriend in for a tender kiss.

"I'm proud of you." she said. Troy grinned.

"So…" He turned to Chad, whose eyes were looking considerably less puffy than a second ago. "What now?"

"I don't know man. I want to say it's just business as usual but…"

"Business isn't exactly usual anymore?" Troy finished. He smiled at Chad's nod. It was nice to know that they could still tell what the other was thinking. It was weird to know that Chad had been…well, he had a whole other side that Troy never knew about, but whatever had changed, they would still be okay. And if they weren't…well, Gabriella would probably have something to say about that, wouldn't she?

HSM

Over at the Evan's house, Sharpay and Ryan were rehearsing their own routine with increased fervour. Despite Ryan's assurances, Sharpay was not convinced that Chad and Gabriella were going to crash and burn during the competition. Therefore, she and Ryan were practicing tenfold. It had to be _killer_ in order to guarantee them first place. Ryan was starting to cramp in his left thigh, but he dared not complain. He just grinned through the pain and cursed himself for being so stupid as to get them into this mess in the first place.

Later that evening, even Sharpay had been forced to admit exhaustion and crawl up to bed for some rest. Ryan's leg was cramping so bad he couldn't even make it up the stairs, so he settled down on one of the sofas for the night. He knew he wouldn't be able to practice again until competition day. If he did then he risked serious injury, and even Sharpay would have to understand that. Closing his eyes, he tried to imagine what life would be like with a reasonable twin. He would be able to make his own contribution to the drama club, rather than being a yes-man to all of Sharpay's. He would be able to help who he liked, regardless of any ongoing vendettas his sister might have. Then again, helping who he liked hadn't worked out all that well. Helping out who he liked had left him open and vulnerable to stupid jock jokes, or what he suspected to be stupid jock jokes. At least with Sharpay in charge he was answerable only to her wrath, and he could handle that. But all this confusion and uncertainty…God, he just wanted it to be over!

Why had Chad kissed him? He knew it hadn't been a prank now…but then he had no idea what it was if it wasn't a prank. Chad did not like him. Chad liked girls. The awful thing was, it was getting to a point where going over that fact left a little twist of jealousy in Ryan's belly. Prank or not, he liked Chad. Of course he did. It was called masochism.

"Ugh! Evans, you are such an idiot!"

He cried out to the ceiling and slammed an open palm against his forehead, ignoring the sting. He was so frustrated with himself, but he was losing his anger. He couldn't hate Chad anymore. He wasn't sure he had reason to, and that meant he was in big trouble. There was no way he was going to have the strength to thrash Chad in the dance contest if he wasn't angry with him.

God, Sharpay was going to kill him…

* * *

**Next update coming…God knows when. **

**I blink and months pass, so I'll make no promises. Reviews are very welcome, but your time alone is beyond appreciated.**

**Oh, and Happy Holidays y'all!**


	8. Competition day

**My God, it's February already! Huge tremendous apologies for the wait. I hit a real wall with this one, although that could be due to the fact that I was listening to Machine Head continuously while writing it. Not really a HSM mood-setter. Anyway, here it is. Thank you for being so patient!**

**Disclaimers, warnings and other stuff:**** See previous chapters. Thanks.

* * *

**

Competition day.  
It was buzzing through Chad's ears. It had been ever since he woke up that morning. _Competition day…competition day…it's today, it's today!_ He didn't hear a single word anyone said to him in class or at lunch; it was impossible to concentrate on anything other than spins and steps. He was terrified, but excited. He was sure the nausea churning in his gut was the good kind of nerves, but he kept dashing into the bathroom, just to be sure. It was on one of these emergency trips that he bumped into Ryan, who was washing his hands in one of the basins.  
"Nervous?" the blonde asked, clocking Chad's clammy complexion and ashen face.  
"A little." he replied.  
Ryan smiled. He wasn't usually one for pre-show jitters – Sharpay disapproved of such apparent weakness – but he had to admit even he was a little queasy about this one. He could only imagine how a newbie like Chad must be feeling.  
"So…" Chad reached behind his head and scratched – a nervous habit universal to most teenagers. "How are you and Sharpay doing?"  
"Good." Ryan nodded. "Pretty good. We've been going at it non-stop. Sharpay's come up with this 'killer move'. She thinks it'll make you crap your pants."  
"That's…great."  
"Yeah."  
An awkward cough. "It's funny, I kind of forgot we were in competition with one another."  
"Yeah…me too…"  
The conversation lulled. Neither boy really knew what to say. Eventually Chad broke the silence.  
"Do you think me and Gabriella will be okay?"  
Ryan sighed, not really sure how to answer. His mind drifted back to that fateful day when he had first seen Chad dancing, in this very bathroom, and what he had been thinking as he watched him. Instantly he knew.  
"Yeah, I think you'll be great."  
He was rewarded by a huge grin from Chad, who suddenly felt considerably less nauseous than before. A month ago Ryan Evan's opinion wouldn't have meant squat. Now it was everything.  
"Hey," Ryan looked up and met Chad's eyes directly for the first time since he had re-taught him the tango. He was smiling, reassuring. "Break a leg out there tonight." he said.  
Chad laughed and held out his hand. Ryan shook it without hesitation.  
"You too, man."

* * *

"So what are you going to do about this Ryan thing?"  
Troy asked the question just as he sat down next to Chad at lunch. Chad visibly froze – the issue hadn't been raised since his 'outing'. Gabriella couldn't help but pull a face at her boyfriend's lack of tact. Noticing this, Troy immediately backtracked.  
"Never mind. You don't have to answer. Pretend I never said anything!"  
"No, it's cool." Chad insisted. "I guess I've gotta get used to talking about it, right?"  
Gabriella shrugged. "Only if you want to."  
"I do. I think it'll make it easier."  
"Okay then. So what _are_ you going to do about this Ryan thing?"  
Chad sighed. "I have no idea. I know it's not a mutual thing. I guess I'm gonna do absolutely nothing."  
"Do absolutely nothing about what?"  
All three teenagers looked up to see Taylor standing there with a food tray in her hands and a curious expression waiting on her face. Chad suddenly lost the power of speech and seeing this, Gabriella stepped in.  
"Chad just twisted his ankle last night, during practice. He has to rest it."  
"Oh." Taylor bought it and sat down, smiling. "Well this is an unusual sight, seeing you guys at lunch. It seems like not a minute of free time goes by that you two don't spend practising for the dance contest."  
Chad laughed. "Yeah, it's been intense."  
"I bet you're excited about tonight."  
"I'm terrified!" said Gabriella.  
"I'm a bit of both." Chad admitted.  
Troy clapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, at least you'll wake up tomorrow and it'll all be over."  
Chad grimaced. If only that were true…

* * *

The evening came in a flash. Chad barely had time to register the journey home before his mom was giving him food he didn't feel like eating and picking out dress shirts he didn't even know he owned.  
"Do you know what colour Gabriella is wearing?" she asked. Chad could only shrug. "Oh well, never mind. Wear the black. You can't go wrong with black – it goes with everything. And you'll look so smart!"  
It was all such a blur. Before he knew it, Chad was dressed, groomed and on his way to the school auditorium. He had a brief notion that maybe nobody would turn up and it wouldn't be so embarrassing, but when he pulled up outside East High and saw all the cars and kids swarming around, he knew most of the student body were there. Of course they were. Who would miss the chance to see one of the stars of the basketball team make a fool of himself ballroom dancing? He knew he wouldn't…  
"Hey, Chad!" Gabriella came up to him in a swirl of glitter and red. She was wearing the same dress she wore to the callbacks, and she looked radiant. Troy was a lucky guy.  
"Hey Gabriella!" Chad enveloped her in a huge hug and realised she was trembling. It wasn't cold out – she was scared. Chad was once again incredibly grateful that she was doing this for him. He waved goodbye to his mom and led Gabriella inside.  
"We'll be okay." she said, ducking behind the stage. Her voice lacked the conviction it carried with such force in training.  
"I know." Chad replied, his own voice only slightly wavering. In the corner of his eye he spied the Evans twins, decked out in glorious matching purple outfits. Sharpay was harassing one of the stagehands, demanding that he increase the floor space on the stage by at least ten inches. Ryan was hovering by her side, chewing nervously on a nail and looking…lost? Distracted? Guilty, almost. That didn't seem right. Something must be wrong…  
"Chad?" Gabriella was gently pulling on his arm, dragging his attention away from Ryan. "If you stare any more his ears will start burning."  
"Right. Sorry."  
They moved away quickly and found a quiet spot to regroup in. Gabriella briefly suggested that they try and practice one last time before the contest, but neither really felt up to it. The nerves were really starting to take hold.  
"Hey Chad, Gabriella!" Kelsi came at them from behind, brandishing a clipboard and a smile. "I have your numbers. You're couple number five."  
"How many couples are there?" Chad asked.  
"Five. You're on last."  
"Oh. Is that good?"  
Kelsi shrugged. "You have longer to wait, so the nerves will probably get worse, but at least your routine will be freshest in everyone's minds!"  
"Well that's something I guess." said Gabriella.  
Chad wasn't so sure. His head was swimming with visions of failure and ever-lasting humiliation.  
Kelsi fidgeted with her clipboard. "Anyway, I have to go. I've got a million things to do. I can't believe I let myself get roped into helping out with this thing! I'm rooting for you guys, by the way."  
She gave the pair a shy smile before disappearing amongst the throng of activity that was going on backstage. Chad was amazed she was able to survive back there; he was having a panic attack just watching everyone buzzing around. Or was that the nerves again?

Suddenly Ms Darbus' voice was ringing out from the stage, welcoming the audience to the competition. Chad peeked out from behind the curtains. Yep, it was a full house. Shit.  
"And now, without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our first couple: Sharpay and Ryan Evans!"  
The room erupted into applause and Chad thought he heard Zeke yelling 'Go Sharpay, baby!', though that could have been anybody. Wait, no. It had to have been Zeke.  
"Somehow I knew they'd go first." Gabriella whispered, just as the opening beat of their song started up. Within seconds the Evans twins had exploded into a fury of movement. Later Gabriella would tell him they moved with a cold precision and accuracy, but all Chad could recall was Ryan spinning, round and round so fast it made him dizzy. He was a blur – a breathtaking, purple blur, and Chad couldn't take his eyes away, even when Ryan moved back for Sharpay to take a ridiculously long solo. By the time they finished, he was breathing almost as hard as they were. He never even noticed the 'killer move'.  
"And that is how you do it." Sharpay gloated as she sashayed past the other couples to her 'dressing room' (which was essentially the girl's bathroom with a makeshift sign stapled to the door.) Ryan hung back, giving a smile of thanks when Kelsi congratulated him on his performance, and just getting his breath back.  
"Okay, couple number two, you're up!"  
Kelsi ushered them onto the stage and motioned for Ms Darbus to introduce them, then disappeared again (but not before giving the couple a thumbs up for good luck). Chad couldn't help but smile at that. She really was a sweet girl.  
"Hey." Ryan tapped him on the shoulder and grinned.  
"Hey. Nice, uh…nice work out there."  
"Thanks. I can't wait to see you guys make me proud."  
Gabriella gave a nervous laugh. "We hope." Ryan made a face at her negative tone.  
"Come on, you'll be great! I know it."  
"Really?" Chad asked.  
"Yeah." Ryan replied, and Chad's nerves eased a little again because Ryan really sounded sure, and that meant a lot.  
"Anyway, I have to go. Sharpay…"  
"You don't have to finish that sentence." Chad interrupted. "Just the word 'Sharpay' is enough."  
Ryan laughed, then ran off to join Sharpay in her 'dressing room'. Once he'd gone, Gabriella placed a bracing arm around Chad's waist and squeezed.  
"It'll get easier over time." she said.  
Chad sighed. "Yeah, I know."

* * *

At that very same moment, Sharpay was pacing the toilets, absolutely fuming. She had grown tired of waiting for Ryan (he should never be more than two seconds behind her, dammit!) and had gone to fetch him herself. She was greeted by the sight of her brother talking to the competition – the bad-haired basketball jock and _her_…the one who stole her show. At first she assumed it was merely a continuation of Ryan's little plan to eliminate them. He must have been filling them with false hope, offering fake encouragement. Except that wasn't his fake face. That was genuine affection! And then Sharpay realised that Ryan's little plan had never been a plan at all – just a cover up to hide the fact that he had been doing the unthinkable. _Helping!_ Ugh, just the thought of it made her see red!  
She had run back to her dressing room before Ryan could see her watching him. She had barely reached the basin when Ryan burst in behind her, making his apologies.  
"I got waylaid." he said.  
Sharpay snorted. "I bet you did."  
She rummaged through her make-up bag with a little more vigour than was entirely necessary, ignoring the look of confusion on Ryan's face. Her hand closed around her miniature mirror and she pulled it out, turning it over in her fingers. Apparently she was going to have to do everything herself.

* * *

Couples two through four had been good, but none had even come close to rivalling Sharpay and Ryan. This was no surprise. It was _their_ competition after all.  
"Now ladies and gentlemen, our last and…probably our least, couple of the evening. Chad Danforth and Gabriella Montez!"  
The crowd went wild, cheering twice as loud as they had for Ryan and Sharpay. However, Chad couldn't help but feel a little chafe at Ms. Darbus' less than complimentary introduction, though he soon forgot about it after Kelsi had given him and Gabriella a little nudge onto the stage. Suddenly he was blinded by dazzling lights, and his heart seemed to be trying to jump clean out of his chest. He felt himself freeze up and cursed. He couldn't do this. He wasn't ready.  
Gabriella, forever calm and collected, pulled them into their starting position and leaned in close to whisper in Chad's ear.  
"Just think of it like a big basketball game."  
Amazingly that really helped, and when the first note of their music rang out, Chad's feet immediately traced the steps that had been drummed into his very nervous system. He led Gabriella around the stage and before long, they forgot their nerves and just started enjoying the routine, putting everything into their performance. It was going without a hitch, and the audience were loving it just as much as they were.  
Without even realising it, they reached The Dreaded Sequence. Suffering from only the briefest of butterflies, Chad launched into the spin. Neither fell over, and they moved smoothly into the lift. Chad had his arms positioned exactly right, and Gabriella was at perfect balance. Both had huge grins on their faces as they moved onto the toss: they were pulling it off!  
Then, disaster struck.  
Chad had just launched Gabriella into the air when a bright light from somewhere in the audience shone straight into his eyes. Blinded, he failed to catch Gabriella properly, and she landed on top of him at such an angle that they both ended up crumpled in a heap on the floor.  
The room went silent. Even the music had spluttered to a stop.

It was over. They couldn't even try and recover, it had been such a bad fall. They'd blown it.  
He'd blown it.

"Well, that could have gone better."  
Ms Darbus came bustling onto the stage and helped Chad and Gabriella onto their feet. She didn't look nearly as smug as Chad expected her to be.  
"Let's have a round of applause for our final couple." she muttered. The audience complied and there was an awkward smattering of applause, but then a figure in the front row stood up and started cheering. It was Troy, of course – a fact that warmed Chad's heart a little despite the crippling failure that was currently burning through his veins. Slowly, the applause became more enthusiastic as the crowd joined in with him, until Chad couldn't make out which whoops were Troy's, and his ear-drums were actually hurting from the sound of the clapping echoing through the auditorium.  
"Excuse me!" Ms Darbus struggled to regain order. "Could we calm down, please? Excuse me!"  
Eventually the applause died down enough for her to be heard above the noise, and she called all the couples back onto the stage so she could announce the winners. Chad was bemused to see Sharpay trotting over from the direction of the audience, rather than backstage. Also, Ryan wasn't with her. In fact, Ryan wasn't anywhere to be seen.  
"Hey, Kelsi!" Chad hissed towards the curtain.  
A head popped through. "What's up?"  
"Where's Ryan?"  
"I don't know. I think I saw him leaving."  
"When?"  
"Just after you finished. He looked a little…"  
Kelsi paused and Chad's heart sank. He didn't like where this was going. "A little what?"  
"Well, I thought he looked a little…disappointed. I don't know why."  
Chad figured he had a pretty good idea why, and it made him feel sick. He'd let him down. After all that hard work, he'd let him down.  
"Shit."

* * *

**The next chapter should be the last. I'm not sure. I think the plot I have in my head allows for just one more, but it might spill over into two. I don't know. Anyway, we can all pray that the next chapter doesn't take as long as this one. Possibly the longest wait yet, am I right? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Reviews give me reminders to get damn well writing. **

**Love xXx**


	9. I wanted to xFINALE x

**My apologies for yet another lengthy wait, but I wanted to make sure I got this chapter just right. I've been working up to this for over a year now, and I'm sure you've been waiting for it, so under no circumstances did I want to rush this little pay off. Hopefully it will all have been worth it.**

**Warnings:**** Boys lovin' other boys, and **_**lots**_** of bad language (even more than usual)**

**Notes:**** How typical is it that I get back into my stride with this fic right at the end? I start having fun again and suddenly it's over!**

He should have known what she was planning the second he saw her take that mirror out. That was the gut wrenching part – the fact that he just _hadn't_ seen it coming. He should have. By God, if anyone should have known it was him! Yet he of all people had been naïve enough to believe that Sharpay would have just left it at 'It was a fluke' and be done with it.  
A flag went up when she dragged him into the audience to watch Chad and Gabriella's performance, he had to admit, and when she took out the mirror he remembered thinking it was an odd time to be checking her make-up, but he just didn't connect the dots in time to stop her. Would he even have stopped her? He wasn't sure he would have had the balls, to be honest, because she looked _pissed_ before they went on, and you just didn't get in her way when she was like that. But then she pulled the stunt with the mirror, and suddenly it was Ryan's turn to be pissed, because a) it just wasn't _fair_ and b) she fucking _waited_ until that sequence came up, even though she _knew_ just how dangerous a fall at that point could have been. Bones could have been _broken_. Hell, if Gabriella had landed wrong then she could have snapped her fucking _neck_! Was a dance competition really worth that? No it wasn't! There was a goddamn _line_, for Christ's sake!  
He left as soon as he saw that both Chad and Gabriella were fine, knowing that if he stayed any longer then he would have had to go up on stage to collect the prize that Sharpay had just made sure they would win. The thought made him sick to the very bottom of his stomach, and he just wanted to go home and wash his hands of this stupid fucking competition and everything that had come from it. Sharpay tried to grab his arm and make him stay, but he shrugged her off with more force than he remembered ever using before in his life, and the shock must have momentarily stunned her because he didn't hear her voice calling after him again.  
Later that night Sharpay came knocking on his bedroom door.  
"Ryan?" she called. "Ryan, we won. I have the trophy right here. Don't you want to see it?"  
The door remained steadfastly locked, and after receiving nothing but stony silence, Sharpay went skulking off.

* * *

He didn't ride to school with her in the convertible the next morning, choosing instead to walk. She kept calling him on his cell, but he didn't pick up. After the first couple of calls, he briefly considered throwing the phone away but immediately discounted that idea as stupid, because he loved his cell phone too much, and didn't it make more sense to just turn it off? Talk about cutting off his nose to spite his face!  
Homeroom was of course, extremely awkward. Sharpay by now had gotten the message that Ryan wasn't talking to her and was therefore sulking, trying to blank him more than he was blanking her, as though that would somehow teach him a lesson, but even worse was seeing Chad walk in, followed by Gabriella. Ryan could not bring himself to look either of them in the eye, knowing what his sister had done, and so he kept his head bowed down out of shame.  
Ms Darbus breezed into the room just after the last student filed in, which was odd because she was usually there before everyone else. Any idle chatter that had started up was immediately hushed and all waited with baited breath for her to mention the dance contest.  
"For those of you who did not attend last night's dance competition," she began, "Sharpay and Ryan were the winners, as voted by the judges."  
Ryan's guts twisted in anticipation of her impending gushing review of their performance.  
"I just want to thank the other competitors for showing incredible sportsmanship, particularly Miss Montez and Mr Danforth. The level of skill required in your routine truly impressed me, and it's just a shame events occurred as they did."  
As she said the last sentence she looked straight at Sharpay, who had the grace to at least squirm a little.  
Ryan was flabbergasted. Ms Darbus knew Sharpay cheated! So…how come they weren't disqualified? Did that even make sense?

He stayed behind at the end of homeroom in order to get some answers.  
"Can I help you Mr Evans?" Ms Darbus asked.  
"You know Sharpay put Chad and Gabriella off." he said.  
"Yes."  
"Why didn't you disqualify us?"  
Ms Darbus sighed and removed her spectacles, carefully setting them on her desk. "Your sister's behaviour was in poor taste, there is no denying that. However, she did not break any specified rules, and therefore I had no grounds to disqualify you. Had she bribed the judges, or tampered with costumes or music, etcetera, then the case may have been very different. Still, I trust you will not allow her to get away with it."  
Ryan frowned. "No Miss Darbus, I will not."  
"Good boy. Now away with you. You'll be late for class."  
Ryan nodded and went on his way. It was good to know that Ms Darbus knew what Sharpay had done too, but the fact that there was no swift official retribution coming her way made him feel slightly more shitty about the whole thing. He did know one thing though: Chad and Gabriella deserved to know the truth, even if it did result in the messenger getting shot. He owed them that much at least.

* * *

Ryan managed to get a hold of Gabriella just before lunch, though he hadn't so much as seen Chad since last night.  
"He's avoiding you." Gabriella explained. "He thinks we disappointed you."  
"What? No way! Look, you guys did me so proud, just like I knew you would."  
"Except for the fall."  
"You wouldn't even have fallen if it wasn't for Sharpay."  
"Why not?"  
For a moment Ryan couldn't bring himself to say it, he was so ridden with guilt, but the thought of Chad thinking he had anything to be sorry for was enough to spur him into action.  
"Sharpay shone a light into Chad's eyes," he blurted. "She sabotaged your performance because she thought you were going to beat us, and I had no idea she was going to do that, I swear, and I'm so sorry Gabriella, I really am. It wasn't fair, and we shouldn't have won that stupid trophy and I'd give it back but she didn't break any stupid rules so the judges can't do a damn thing, and even Ms Darbus thinks it was a shitty thing to do and God please forgive me!"  
Gabriella, to her credit, took his desperate outburst in her stride, and processed the wave of information relatively quickly.  
After some lengthy consideration she said, "You care about what Chad thinks of you, don't you?"  
"What?" Ryan replied, genuinely thrown.  
"It doesn't matter. I'll tell Chad everything you just told me. Just relax. You're totally forgiven." Then she gave Ryan a quick hug and scuttled off, presumably to find Chad.  
"Sweet girl." Ryan muttered to himself. "A little cryptic at times, but sweet all the same."

* * *

Ryan had no intention of going straight home after school. He wasn't quite ready to stop not talking to Sharpay yet, and he knew his parents weren't going to stand for a silent dinner as well as the silent breakfast they had to endure that morning, so he just hung around for a while. He walked aimlessly through the hallways, humming show tunes to himself. He just reached the end of 'Annie Get Your Gun' when he found himself right outside the auditorium. Apparently his subconscious had some unresolved issues there, so with a resigned sigh he pushed the door open and went inside.  
The place was empty – a sight that always sent shivers down Ryan's spine. He couldn't explain why, it just always did. He supposed it had something to do with the anticipation of a show or something similar, but he had never been able to exactly pinpoint the reason.  
The thing was, the auditorium wasn't completely empty. There was someone sat on the edge of the stage…someone Chad-shaped...  
"You didn't feel much like going home either."  
Chad's head snapped up at the sound of Ryan's voice. To his relief, a smile broke out on his face when he saw him.  
"I just wanted a little head space," he said, "Gabriella told me about what happened."  
"So you know it wasn't your fault?"  
"Yeah, I know. I'm just…I just wish we could have finished what we started, you know? We missed our moment of glory, and you never even got to see us do that damn sequence all the way through."  
Ryan shrugged. "So do it now."  
Chad looked at Ryan like he was simple. "Uh…Gabriella isn't here…"  
"I know. Do it with me, dumbass!" Ryan grinned and pulled himself up on stage. He held out a hand to Chad and waited. It felt like their first practice session again, with the jazz squares, and he had to admit he had missed this.  
"You're insane." Chad muttered, even as he hoisted himself onto his feet and took Ryan's hand. "There ain't no way I'm tossing you." he added, and he had to fight to keep his own grin at bay.  
Ryan rolled his eyes. "So don't toss me."  
"We don't even have any music."  
"Just use your imagination!"  
"You gonna count me in?"  
"Okay, on four. One, two, three, four."  
The two boys spun together, laughing the whole time. The spin was meant to last two rotations, but they went for three, just because. Leaving out the lift and the toss, Chad went straight into the swooping dip and held Ryan inches from the floor before swinging him upright again. The end result was the two boys suddenly being nose to nose and slightly breathless. Neither made to move away.  
"Why did you kiss me?" Ryan asked. The second the words left his mouth he wished he hadn't said anything, but it was the first thing that had crossed his mind and he couldn't help but ask.  
Chad was flustered at the question, but even more flustered at the answer he gave,  
"I wanted to."  
Time stood still. Ryan could barely understand what he just heard. Chad had wanted to kiss him? He liked him back? But…oh God, he liked him back!  
"I've been such an idiot…"  
Ryan went to pull away and Chad panicked. His entire body was trembling with the need to keep Ryan close and if whatever he was about to say meant him pulling away, then he didn't want to hear it.  
"Don't…" he whimpered. He snaked his arms around Ryan's waist and pulled him close again. "Whatever it is, I don't care."  
Ryan sighed. He knew he should at least try and confess what a tool he had been, but the feel of Chad's breath on his neck and his fingers brushing over the small of his back were forcing coherent sentences to the back of his mind.  
"I have no idea what I'm doing," Chad whispered into the crook of Ryan's neck. "But I can't stop it." His grip tightened around Ryan's waist. "I haven't stopped thinking about you since this whole thing started."

It was at this point that Ryan decided to give up on reason and just appreciate the fact that this was actually happening. Tentatively, he reached up and looped his arms around Chad's shoulders and spent a moment just holding him, breathing him in. One hand found its way to the back of Chad's neck and Ryan let his fingers flutter over the spot between his shoulder blades, earning a tangible shudder. It was so simple, yet so incredible he was struggling to find feelings to fit, let alone words. Then Chad pulled back and locked those deep brown eyes with Ryan's own, and they were so dark with need and vulnerability that Ryan's heart broke clean in two at the sight.  
"I think it's my turn to kiss you." he said, and within seconds their lips were crushed together. The kiss was harsh and desperate – both had been waiting for this for far too long, and it seemed to last forever, until the lack of air was making Ryan feel dizzy (or so he assumed) and he was forced to pull away.  
"I thought you were making fun of me when you kissed me before." he panted.  
"That would have been easier." Chad admitted with a grin, and then he leaned forward to ensnare Ryan in another kiss. He didn't notice the exact moment when their mouths opened to deepen the kiss, nor was he sure whether it was him or Ryan who had initiated it. All he was aware of was the slide of Ryan's lips against his and the heat of their tongues wrestling for dominance. He let out a deep, lustful groan. Why had he been so afraid of this?  
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Ryan broke the kiss and looked pointedly southwards with a satisfied smirk. Confused, Chad followed his line of sight and swore. He was embarrassingly hard.  
Ryan laughed. "I wouldn't be embarrassed if I were you." he said, and then he pulled Chad closer so that he could feel his own hard-on pressing into his hip. Chad couldn't help but grin.  
"Maybe we should take this somewhere a little less...open?" he suggested. Ryan gave a throaty laugh.  
"You read my mind." he muttered, and then he took Chad by the hand and led him backstage to the closet where the costumes were kept. Their clothes were soon lost among piles of doublets and tutus, and for a good half an hour the only sounds that could be heard from that closet were hitched breathing, long, desperate moans and occasionally the sound of Chad shouting out Ryan's name.

* * *

They agreed to keep it a secret. Chad, for all his strength, wasn't sure he could cope with being the gay basketball jock, and Ryan wasn't sure he could cope with being the guy who turned him. Not at East High, anyway. Chad figured college would mean a brand new start, and he could come out then. They didn't like to admit that what they had might not be strong enough to survive the distance college would mean, because what they had was all about the present – a stolen glance, an illicit kiss in an empty hallway, a 'study' date in a diner or movie theatre a couple of towns over. It wasn't exactly the romance of the century, but it was pretty good considering they were both in the closet, one way or the other.  
Kelsi was the first person to find out post-dance contest. It was inevitable, considering how quiet she was and how much time she spent alone in the music room (one of the pair's favourite make-out spots). One day they just didn't notice she was there, and the rest you can probably work out for yourselves. Once they got over the initial embarrassment, she wrote them a song as a way of giving them her blessing, and Ryan loved it so much that he would play it at home at least once a day.  
Taylor had to be told eventually. She got tired of feeling out of the loop and demanded to know what said loop was about, and once it had been explained her response was something along the lines of:  
"Now it all makes sense. Your chauvinistic Neanderthal behaviour was just you overcompensating. Typical."  
Then she asked for all the juicy details, prying so far as to make Chad blush.  
As for Sharpay...well she more or less knew from the moment she worked out that Ryan wasn't playing evil genius with the dance contest. Ryan stopped freezing her out after two months solid of her sulking, although he did significantly tune down his role as her lap dog. The trophy also acquired a mysterious disfiguring crater that may or may not have been caused by someone dropping it accidentally-on-purpose out of the attic window of the Evan's five-storey mansion and then running it over with their sister's pink convertible. Daddy took it to get fixed, but it never quite looked the same. Sharpay was, of course, furious.  
The sneaking around did get to them sometimes. There were occasions where Chad wanted to announce over the PA just how lucky he was to be making out with Ryan on a regular basis, and sometimes it killed Ryan not to be able to throw his arms around Chad whenever he felt like it. He would watch Troy and Gabriella canoodling at lunch and the jealousy would consume him, but he dealt, because it was high school, and neither he nor Chad were brave enough to face the gossip, or Chad's parents, and because even though being together behind closed doors never felt like it was ideal, it was _enough_. It could be the hardest day and it would take just the briefest of kisses, or touches, or gazes, and everything would feel worthwhile again. So they kept it a secret, and they kept going. And sometimes, when they found the time, they would lock themselves away, put on some music and just dance together. And sometimes, when they were feeling dangerous, they even did the tango.

THE END

**Sorry if the ending seemed rushed. I'd spent nine chapters focusing on them getting together. I didn't want to spend another nine on where they went from there. Also I think another chapter of this story might just kill me.  
So. There you go. Finished. Thank you so much to everyone for sticking by me. It was above and beyond the call of duty, it really was, considering how long you guys have had to wait for every friggin' chapter. I'm amazed I'm still getting reviews and story alert adds. When the idea for this fic first popped into my head I never imagined it would take up such a chunk of my life. It was going to be a one shot! Anyway, thanks again for reading. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.**


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